---
title: "2 Chronicles 20 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/2-chronicles/20/
description: "The Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians combine against Josaphat: he seeketh… 2 Chronicles 20 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# 2 Chronicles 20

2 Chronicles 20 is chapter 20 of 36 in the Second Book of Chronicles. Here are all 37 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> The Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians combine against Josaphat: he seeketh God's help by public prayer and fasting. A prophet foretelleth that God will fight for his people: the enemies destroy one another. Josaphat with his men gathereth the spoils. He reigneth in peace, but his navy perisheth, for his society with wicked Ochozias.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## 2 Chronicles 20 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. After these things, the sons of Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and with them some from the Ammonites, gathered together so that they might fight against him.
2. And messengers arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying: “A great multitude has arrived against you, from those places that are across the sea, and from Syria. And behold, they are standing together at Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi.”
3. Then Jehoshaphat, being terrified with fear, gave himself entirely to petitioning the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah.
4. And Judah gathered together to pray to the Lord. Moreover, everyone from their cities came to beseech him.
5. And when Jehoshaphat had stood up in the midst of the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new atrium,
6. he said: “O Lord, God of our fathers, you are God in heaven, and you rule over all the kingdoms of the Gentiles. In your hand is strength and power, and no one is able to withstand you.
7. Did not you, our God, put to death all the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel? And you gave it to the offspring of your friend Abraham, for all time.
8. And they lived in it. And they built a Sanctuary to your name in it, saying:
9. ‘If evils will have fallen upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand in your sight before this house, in which your name is invoked, and we will cry out to you in our tribulations. And you will heed us and accomplish our salvation.’
10. Now therefore, behold the sons of Ammon, and of Moab, and mount Seir, through whose lands you did not permit Israel to cross when they were departing from Egypt. Instead, they turned aside from them, and they did not put them to death.
11. They are doing the contrary, and they are striving to cast us from the possession which you delivered to us.
12. Therefore, will you, our God, not judge them? Certainly, in us there is not enough strength so that we would be able to withstand this multitude, which rushes against us. But although we do not know what we ought to do, we have this alone remaining, that we direct our eyes to you.”
13. Truly, all of Judah was standing before the Lord with their little ones and wives and children.
14. But there was Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from the sons of Asaph, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord went, in the midst of the crowd.
15. And he said: “Pay attention, all of Judah, and you who live in Jerusalem, and you, king Jehoshaphat. Thus says the Lord to you: Do not be afraid. Neither should you be dismayed by this multitude. For the fight is not yours, but God’s.
16. Tomorrow, you shall descend against them. For they will ascend along the incline named Ziz, and will find them at the summit of the torrent, which is opposite the wilderness of Jeruel.
17. It will not be you who will fight. Instead, only stand with confidence, and you will see the help of the Lord over you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid. Neither should you be dismayed. Tomorrow you shall go forth against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
18. Then Jehoshaphat, and Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell prone on the ground before the Lord, and they adored him.
19. And the Levites from the sons of Kohath, and from the sons of Korah, were praising the Lord, the God of Israel, with a great voice, on high.
20. And when they had risen up in the morning, they went out through the desert of Tekoa. And as they were setting out, Jehoshaphat, standing in their midst, said: “Listen to me, men of Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be secure. Believe in his prophets, and everything will come to prosperity.”
21. And he gave counsel to the people. And he appointed the singing men of the Lord, so that they would praise him by their companies, and so that they would go before the army, and with one voice say: “Confess to the Lord. For his mercy is eternal.”
22. And when they had begun to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushes upon themselves, that is, those of the sons of Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who had gone forth so that they might fight against Judah. And they were struck down.
23. For the sons of Ammon and of Moab rose up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, so that they might slay and destroy them. And when they had perpetrated this work, now also turning upon themselves, they cut one another with wounds.
24. Then, when Judah had gone to the high point that looks out toward the desert, they saw, from far away, the entire wide region filled with dead bodies. Neither was there anyone who was left alive and had been able to escape death.
25. Therefore, Jehoshaphat went, and all the people with him, in order to take away the spoils of the dead. And they found, among the dead bodies, diverse equipment, and also garments, and very precious vessels. And they despoiled these, to such an extent that they were unable to carry everything. Neither could they, over three days, take away the spoils because of the magnitude of the plunder.
26. Then, on the fourth day, they were gathered together in the Valley of Blessing. For they had blessed the Lord there, and therefore they called that place the Valley of Blessing, even to the present day.
27. And every man of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, returned, with Jehoshaphat before them, to Jerusalem, with great rejoicing. For the Lord had granted to them gladness concerning their enemies.
28. And they entered into Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets, into the house of the Lord.
29. Then the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands, when they had heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet. And God granted to him peace on all sides.
31. And so Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. And he was thirty-five years old when he had begun to reign. Then he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.
32. And he walked in the way of his father, Asa, and he did not decline from it, doing the things that were pleasing before the Lord.
33. Yet truly, he did not take away the high places, and the people still had not directed their heart to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
34. But the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the first and the last, have been written in the words of Jehu, the son of Hanani, which he digested into the books of the kings of Israel.
35. After these things, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, formed a friendship with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, whose works were very impious.
36. And he was a partner in the making of ships, which would go to Tarshish. And they made the fleet at Eziongeber.
37. Then Eliezer, the son of Dodavahu, from Mareshah, prophesied to Jehoshaphat, saying: “Because you have made a pact with Ahaziah, the Lord has struck your works, and the ships have been broken, and they have not been able to go to Tarshish.”

## 2 Chronicles 20 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Post hæc congregati sunt filii Moab et filii Ammon, et cum eis de Ammonitis, ad Josaphat, ut pugnarent contra eum.
2. Veneruntque nuntii, et indicaverunt Josaphat, dicentes: Venit contra te multitudo magna de his locis quæ trans mare sunt, et de Syria: et ecce consistunt in Asasonthamar, quæ est Engaddi.
3. Josaphat autem timore perterritus, totum se contulit ad rogandum Dominum, et prædicavit jejunium universo Juda.
4. Congregatusque est Judas ad deprecandum Dominum: sed et omnes de urbibus suis venerunt ad obsecrandum eum.
5. Cumque stetisset Josaphat in medio cœtu Juda et Jerusalem, in domo Domini ante atrium novum,
6. ait: Domine Deus patrum nostrorum, tu es Deus in cælo, et dominaris cunctis regnis gentium: in manu tua est fortitudo et potentia, nec quisquam tibi potest resistere.
7. Nonne tu, Deus noster, interfecisti omnes habitatores terræ hujus coram populo tuo Israël, et dedisti eam semini Abraham amici tui in sempiternum?
8. Habitaveruntque in ea, et exstruxerunt in illa sanctuarium nomini tuo, dicentes:
9. Si irruerint super nos mala, gladius judicii, pestilentia, et fames, stabimus coram domo hac in conspectu tuo, in qua invocatum est nomen tuum: et clamabimus ad te in tribulationibus nostris, et exaudies, salvosque facies.
10. Nunc igitur, ecce filii Ammon, et Moab, et mons Seir, per quos non concessisti Israël ut transirent quando egrediebantur de Ægypto, sed declinaverunt ab eis, et non interfecerunt illos,
11. e contrario agunt, et nituntur ejicere nos de possessione quam tradidisti nobis.
12. Deus noster, ergo non judicabis eos? in nobis quidem non est tanta fortitudo, ut possimus huic multitudini resistere, quæ irruit super nos. Sed cum ignoremus quid agere debeamus, hoc solum habemus residui, ut oculos nostros dirigamus ad te.
13. Omnis vero Juda stabat coram Domino cum parvulis, et uxoribus, et liberis suis.
14. Erat autem Jahaziel filius Zachariæ filii Banaiæ filii Jehiel filii Mathaniæ, Levites de filiis Asaph, super quem factus est spiritus Domini, in medio turbæ,
15. et ait: Attendite, omnis Juda, et qui habitatis Jerusalem, et tu, rex Josaphat: hæc dicit Dominus vobis: Nolite timere, nec paveatis hanc multitudinem: non est enim vestra pugna, sed Dei.
16. Cras descendetis contra eos: ascensuri enim sunt per clivum nomine Sis, et invenietis illos in summitate torrentis qui est contra solitudinem Jeruel.
17. Non eritis vos qui dimicabitis, sed tantummodo confidenter state, et videbitis auxilium Domini super vos, o Juda et Jerusalem: nolite timere, nec paveatis: cras egrediemini contra eos, et Dominus erit vobiscum.
18. Josaphat ergo, et Juda, et omnes habitatores Jerusalem ceciderunt proni in terram coram Domino, et adoraverunt eum.
19. Porro Levitæ de filiis Caath et de filiis Core laudabant Dominum Deum Israël voce magna in excelsum.
20. Cumque mane surrexissent, egressi sunt per desertum Thecue: profectisque eis, stans Josaphat in medio eorum, dixit: Audite me, viri Juda, et omnes habitatores Jerusalem: credite in Domino Deo vestro, et securi eritis: credite prophetis ejus, et cuncta evenient prospera.
21. Deditque consilium populo, et statuit cantores Domini ut laudarent eum in turmis suis, et antecederent exercitum, ac voce consona dicerent: Confitemini Domino quoniam in æternum misericordia ejus.
22. Cumque cœpissent laudes canere, vertit Dominus insidias eorum in semetipsos, filiorum scilicet Ammon, et Moab, et montis Seir, qui egressi fuerant ut pugnarent contra Judam: et percussi sunt.
23. Namque filii Ammon et Moab consurrexerunt adversum habitatores montis Seir, ut interficerent et delerent eos: cumque hoc opere perpetrassent, etiam in semetipsos versi, mutuis concidere vulneribus.
24. Porro Juda, cum venisset ad speculam quæ respicit solitudinem, vidit procul omnem late regionem plenam cadaveribus, nec superesse quemquam qui necem potuisset evadere.
25. Venit ergo Josaphat, et omnis populus cum eo, ad detrahenda spolia mortuorum: inveneruntque inter cadavera variam supellectilem, vestes quoque, et vasa pretiosissima, et diripuerunt ita ut omnia portare non possent, nec per tres dies spolia auferre præ prædæ magnitudine.
26. Die autem quarto congregati sunt in Valle benedictionis: etenim quoniam ibi benedixerant Domino, vocaverunt locum illum Vallis benedictionis usque in præsentem diem.
27. Reversusque est omnis vir Juda, et habitatores Jerusalem, et Josaphat ante eos, in Jerusalem cum lætitia magna, eo quod dedisset eis Dominus gaudium de inimicis suis.
28. Ingressique sunt in Jerusalem cum psalteriis, et citharis, et tubis in domum Domini.
29. Irruit autem pavor Domini super universa regna terrarum cum audissent quod pugnasset Dominus contra inimicos Israël.
30. Quievitque regnum Josaphat, et præbuit ei Deus pacem per circuitum.
31. Regnavit igitur Josaphat super Judam, et erat triginta quinque annorum cum regnare cœpisset: viginti autem et quinque annis regnavit in Jerusalem, et nomen matris ejus Azuba filia Selahi.
32. Et ambulavit in via patris suis Asa, nec declinavit ab ea, faciens quæ placita erant coram Domino.
33. Verumtamen excelsa non abstulit, et adhuc populus non direxerat cor suum ad Dominum Deum patrum suorum.
34. Reliqua autem gestorum Josaphat priorum et novissimorum scripta sunt in verbis Jehu filii Hanani, quæ digessit in libros regum Israël.
35. Post hæc iniit amicitias Josaphat rex Juda cum Ochozia rege Israël, cujus opera fuerunt impiissima.
36. Et particeps fuit ut facerent naves quæ irent in Tharsis: feceruntque classem in Asiongaber.
37. Prophetavit autem Eliezer filius Dodau de Maresa ad Josaphat, dicens: Quia habuisti fœdus cum Ochozia, percussit Dominus opera tua, contritæque sunt naves, nec potuerunt ire in Tharsis.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).