Deuteronomy 20

1 When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

“If you go out to battle against your enemies, and you see horsemen and chariots, and that the multitude of your adversary’s army is greater than your own, you shall not fear them. For the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, is with you.

2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army,

Then, as the battle now draws near, the priest shall stand before the front ranks, and he shall speak to the people in this manner:

3 saying to them, “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be alarmed or terrified because of them.

‘Listen, O Israel! Today you engage in a battle against your enemies. Do not let your heart be overwhelmed with fear. Do not be apprehensive. Do not yield. You should have no dread of them.

4 For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”

For the Lord your God is in your midst, and he will contend against your enemies on your behalf, so that he may rescue you from peril.’

5 Furthermore, the officers are to address the army, saying, “Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man dedicate it.

Likewise, the officers shall proclaim, throughout every company, in the hearing of the soldiers: ‘What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in the battle, and another man may dedicate it.

6 Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit.

What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not yet caused it to be common, so that all may eat from it? Let him go, and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in the battle, and another man may carry out his office.

7 Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.”

What man is there, who has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go, and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in battle, and another man may take her.’

8 Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.”

After these things have been declared, they shall add the remainder, and shall say to the people: ‘What man is there who is overwhelmed by fear and is fainthearted? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he cause the hearts of his brothers to fear, just as he himself has been thoroughly stricken with fear.’

9 When the officers have finished addressing the army, they are to appoint commanders to lead it.

And when the officers of the army have become silent, and have completed their speech, each one shall prepare his unit to wage war.

10 When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.

When, at any time, you approach a city to fight against it, you shall first offer peace to it.

11 If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you.

If they receive it, and open the gates to you, then all the people who are in it shall be saved, and they shall serve you by paying tribute.

12 But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city.

But if they are not willing to enter into an agreement, and they begin to act against you in warfare, then you shall besiege it.

13 When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword.

And when the Lord your God will have delivered it into your hands, you shall strike down anyone who is in it, of the male gender, with the edge of the sword,

14 But the women, children, livestock, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—you may take as plunder, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God gives you.

but not the women and young children, nor the cattle and the other things that are within the city. And you shall divide all the plunder to the soldiers, and you shall eat the spoils from your enemies, which the Lord your God will give to you.

15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

So shall you do to all the cities which are at a great distance from you, those which are not among the cities that you shall receive as a possession.

16 However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.

But among those cities which shall be given to you, you shall not permit anyone at all to live.

17 For you must devote them to complete destruction —the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you,

Instead, you shall put them to death with the edge of the sword, specifically: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you.

18 so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to sin against the LORD your God.

Otherwise, they may teach you to do all the abominations which they have committed for their own gods. And then you would sin against the Lord your God.

19 When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them?

When you will have besieged a city for a long time, and you will have encircled it with fortifications, so that you may fight against it, you shall not cut down trees from which one is able to eat, neither shall you cause devastation with axes to the surrounding region. For it is a tree, and not a man. It is not able to increase the number of those who are fighting against you.

20 But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. Use them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.

But if there are any trees which are not fruitful, but are wild, and if these are fit for other uses, then cut them down, and make machines, until you have captured the city that is contending against you.”