< Deuteronomy 20 >

1 “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.
When thou go forth to battle against thine enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, thou shall not be afraid of them, for Jehovah thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
2 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:
And it shall be, when ye draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people,
3 ‘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.
and shall say to them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw near this day to battle against your enemies. Let not your heart faint. Fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye frightened at them.
4 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.’
For Jehovah your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
5 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.
And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
6 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.
And what man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used the fruit of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit of it.
7 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.’
And what man is there who has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.
8 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.’
And the officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother's heart melt as his heart.
9 And when the officers of the army have become silent, and have completed their speech, each one shall prepare his unit to wage war.
And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking to the people, that they shall appoint captains of armies at the head of the people.
10 When, at any time, you approach a city to fight against it, you shall first offer peace to it.
When thou draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it.
11 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.
And it shall be, if it makes to thee an answer of peace, and opens to thee, then it shall be, that all the people that are found in it shall become tributary to thee, and shall serve thee.
12 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.
And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shall besiege it.
13 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,
And when Jehovah thy God delivers it into thy hand, thou shall smite every male of it with the edge of the sword,
14 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.
but the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil of it, thou shall take for a prey to thyself. And thou shall eat the spoil of thine enemies, which Jehovah thy God has given thee.
15 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.
Thus thou shall do to all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 But among those cities which shall be given to you, you shall not permit anyone at all to live.
But of the cities of these peoples, that Jehovah thy God gives thee for an inheritance, thou shall save alive nothing that breathes,
17 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.
but thou shall utterly destroy them-the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite-as Jehovah thy God has commanded thee,
18 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.
that they not teach you to do after all their abominations, which they have done to their gods, so ye would sin against Jehovah your God.
19 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.
When thou shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shall not destroy the trees of it by wielding an axe against them, for thou may eat of them. And thou shall not cut them down, for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by thee?
20 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.”
Only the trees of which thou know that they are not trees for food, thou shall destroy and cut them down. And thou shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with thee, until it falls.

< Deuteronomy 20 >