Deuteronomy 20
1 “When your [soldiers] go to fight your enemies, and you see that they have many horses and chariots and that their army is much bigger than yours, do not be afraid of them, because Yahweh our God, who brought your [ancestors safely] out of Egypt, will be with you.
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.
2 When you are ready to start the battle, the Supreme Priest must stand in front of the troops.
When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army,
3 He must say to them, ‘You Israeli men, listen to me! Today you are going to fight against your enemies. Do not be timid or afraid [DOU] or tremble or panic [DOU],
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.
4 because Yahweh our God will go with you. He will fight your enemies for you, and he will enable you to defeat them.’
For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”
5 Then the army officers must say to the troops, ‘If anyone among you has just built a new house [RHQ] and has not dedicated it [to God], he should go home [and dedicate the house]. If he does not do that, if he dies in the battle, someone else will dedicate the house [and live in it].
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.
6 If anyone among you has planted a vineyard and has not yet harvested any grapes from it [RHQ], he should go home. If he [stays here and] dies in the battle, someone else will [harvest the grapes and] enjoy [the wine made from them].
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.
7 If anyone among you has become engaged to marry a woman [but has not married her yet] [RHQ], he should go home. If [he stays here and] dies in the battle, someone else will marry her.’
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.”
8 “Then the officers must also say, ‘If anyone among you is afraid or timid [RHQ], he should go home, in order that he does not cause his fellow soldiers to also stop being courageous.’
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.”
9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the troops, they must appoint commanders [to lead the groups of soldiers].
When the officers have finished addressing the army, they are to appoint commanders to lead it.
10 “When you come near a city [that is far away] to attack it, first tell the people there that if they surrender, you will not attack them.
When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.
11 If they open the gates of the city and surrender, they all will become your slaves to work for you.
If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you.
12 But if they refuse to [surrender] peacefully, and decide instead to fight against you, your troops must surround the city [and break through the walls].
But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city.
13 Then, when Yahweh our God enables you to capture [IDM] the city, you must kill all the men in the city.
When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword.
14 But you are allowed to take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else [that you want to take] from the city. You will be allowed to enjoy all the things that belonged to your enemies; it is Yahweh our God who has given those things to you.
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.
15 You should do that in all the cities that are far from the land in which you will settle.
This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
16 “But in the cities that are in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, you must kill all the people and all the animals [LIT].
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.
17 You must get rid of them completely. Get rid of the Heth people-group, the Amor people-group, the Canaan people-group, the Periz people-group, the Hiv people-group, and the Jebus people-group; that is what Yahweh our God commanded you to do.
For you must devote them to complete destruction —the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you,
18 If you do not do that, they will teach you to sin against Yahweh our God and do the disgusting things that they do when they worship their gods.
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.
19 “When you surround a city for a long time, trying to capture it, do not cut down the fruit trees [outside the city]. You are allowed to eat the fruit from the trees, but do not get rid of the trees, because they certainly are not [RHQ] your enemies.
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?
20 You are permitted to cut down the other trees and use the wood to make ladders and towers to enable you to [go over the walls and] capture the city.”
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.
