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 you go out to battle against your enemy, and have seen horse and chariot—a people more numerous than you—you are not afraid of them, for your God YHWH [is] with you, who is bringing you 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 has been, in your drawing near to the battle, that the priest has come near, and spoken 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 said to them, Hear, O Israel: You are drawing near today to battle against your enemies, do not let your hearts be tender, do not fear, nor make haste, nor be terrified at their presence,

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 your God YHWH [is] He who is going with you, to fight for you with 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 authorities have spoken to the people, saying, Who [is] the man that has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in 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 who [is] the man that has planted a vineyard and has not made it common? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in battle, and another man make it common.

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 who [is] the man that has betrothed a woman and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in 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 authorities have added to speak to the people and said, Who [is] the man that is afraid and tender of heart? Let him go and return to his house, and the heart of his brothers does not melt like 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 has come to pass, as the authorities finish to speak to the people, that they have appointed princes of the hosts 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 you draw near to a city to fight against it, then you have called to it for peace,

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 has been, if it answers you [with] peace, and has opened to you, then it has come to pass, all the people who are found in it are for tributaries to you, and have served you.

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 does not make peace with you, and has made war with you, then you have laid siege against 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 your God YHWH has given it into your hand, and you have struck every male of it by the mouth 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.

Only, the women, and the infants, and the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you seize for yourself, and you have eaten the spoil of your enemies which your God YHWH has given to you.

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.

So you do to all the cities which are very far off from you, 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.

Only, of the cities of these peoples which your God YHWH is giving to you [for] an inheritance, you do not keep alive any [that are] breathing;

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.

for you certainly devote the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as your God YHWH has commanded you,

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.

so that they do not teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you have sinned against your God YHWH.

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 you lay siege to a city [for] many days to fight against it, to capture it, you do not destroy its trees to force an axe against them, for you eat of them, and you do not cut them down—for the tree of the field [is] man’s—to go in at your presence in the siege.

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 tree of which you know that it [is] not a fruit-tree, you destroy it, and have cut [it] down, and have built a bulwark against the city which is making war with you until you have subdued it.”