Deuteronomy 20
1 When thou shalt go forth to warre against thine enemies, and shalt see horses and charets, and people moe then thou, be not afrayde of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
When you go to war with your enemies and you see horses and chariots, and a larger army than yours, don't be afraid of them, because the Lord your God who led you out of Egypt is with you.
2 And when ye are come neere vnto the battel, then the Priest shall come forth to speake vnto the people,
Before you go into battle, the priest shall come and speak to the army.
3 And shall say vnto them, Heare, O Israel: ye are come this day vnto battell against your enemies: let not your heartes faynt, neither feare, nor be amased, nor adread of them.
He is to tell them, “Listen, men of Israel! Today you are going to fight your enemies. Don't be nervous or afraid; don't be panicked or terrified by them.
4 For ye Lord your God goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, and to saue you
For the Lord your God is going with you to fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you the victory.”
5 And let the officers speake vnto the people, saying, What man is there that hath buylt a new house, and hath not dedicate it? let him go and returne to his house, least he dye in the battel, and an other man dedicate it.
The officers shall also speak to the army and tell them, “Is there any man here who has built a new house and hasn't dedicated it to the Lord? He can go home, otherwise he might die in battle and another man will dedicate it.
6 And what man is there that hath planted a vineyarde, and hath not eaten of the fruite? let him go and returne againe vnto his house, least he die in the battel, and another eate the fruite.
Is there any man here who has planted a vineyard and hasn't yet enjoyed its fruit? He can go home, otherwise he might die in battle and another man will enjoy its fruit.
7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and returne againe vnto his house, lest he die in the battell, and another man take her.
Is there any man here who is engaged to a woman and hasn't married her? He can go home, otherwise he might die in battle and another man will marry her.”
8 And let the officers speake further vnto the people, and say, Whosoeuer is afrayde and faynt hearted, let him go and returne vnto his house, least his brethrens heart faynt like his heart.
The officers are also to tell the army, “Is there any man here who is afraid or nervous? He can go home, so he won't affect his fellow-soldiers and make them as frightened as himself.”
9 And after that the officers haue made an ende of speaking vnto the people, they shall make captaines of the armie to gouerne the people.
After the officers have finished speaking to the army, they are put commanders in charge to lead it into battle.
10 When thou commest neere vnto a citie to fight against it, thou shalt offer it peace.
When you arrive at a town, ready to attack it, you must first make an offer of peace to the people living there.
11 And if it answere thee againe peaceably, and open vnto thee, then let all the people that is founde therein, be tributaries vnto thee, and serue thee.
If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates to you, all the inhabitants will become your slave-laborers.
12 But if it will make no peace with thee, but make war against thee, then shalt thou besiege it.
However, if they refuse to make peace with you and decide to fight you, then lay siege to the town.
13 And the Lord thy God shall deliuer it into thine handes, and thou shalt smite all the males thereof with the edge of the sworde.
Once the Lord your God has handed it over to you, kill every male with the sword.
14 Onely the women, and the children, and the cattel, and all that is in the citie, euen all the spoyle thereof shalt thou take vnto thy selfe, and shalt eate the spoyle of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee.
But you can take as plunder the women, children, livestock, and everything else in the town. You can take and use all your enemies' possessions the Lord your God gives you.
15 Thus shalt thou do vnto all ye cities, which are a great way off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations here.
This is the way you are to deal with all the towns that are a long way from you and don't belong to neighboring nations.
16 But of the cities of this people, which the Lord thy God shall giue thee to inherite, thou shalt saue no person aliue,
However, when it comes to the towns of those nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you to occupy, don't leave anything alive that breathes.
17 But shalt vtterly destroy them: to wit, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hiuites, and the Iebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee,
Set them apart for complete destruction—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has ordered you to do.
18 That they teache you not to doe after all their abominations, which they haue done vnto their gods, and so ye should sinne against the Lord your God.
This is to prevent them teaching you all the offensive things they do in worshiping their gods, and in so doing make you sin against the Lord your God.
19 When thou hast besieged a citie long time, and made warre against it to take it, destroy not the trees therof, by smiting an axe into them: for thou mayest eate of them: therfore thou shalt not cut them downe to further thee in the siege, (for the tree of the field is mans life)
Now when you lay siege to a town and it goes on for a long time as you fight to capture it, don't destroy the fruit trees there. You can eat their fruit. Don't cut them down. Are the trees in the orchard human beings that you should also attack?
20 Onely those trees, which thou knowest are not for meate, those shalt thou destroy and cut downe, and make fortes against the citie that maketh warre with thee, vntil thou subdue it.
However, you may destroy the trees that you know are not fruit trees. You can use them to build siege equipment to attack the town that is fighting against you until it falls.
