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.

And if you should go forth to war against your enemies, and should see horse, and rider, and a people more numerous than yourself; you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God [is] with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

2 When you are ready to start the battle, the Supreme Priest must stand in front of the troops.

And it shall come to pass whenever you shall draw near to battle, that the priest shall draw near and speak to the people, and shall say to them,

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],

Hear, O Israel; you are going this day to battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint, fear not, neither be confounded, neither turn aside from their face.

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 [it is] the Lord your God who advances with you, to fight with you against your enemies, [and] to save you.

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].

And the scribes shall speak to the people, saying, What man [is] he that has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war, 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].

And what man [is] he that has planted a vineyard, and not been made merry with it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man be made merry with it.

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.’

And what man [is] he that 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 “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.’

And the scribes shall speak further to the people, and say, What man [is] he that fears and is cowardly in his heart? Let him go and return to his house, lest he make the heart of his brother fail, as his own.

9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the troops, they must appoint commanders [to lead the groups of soldiers].

And it shall come to pass when the scribes shall have ceased speaking to the people, that they shall appoint generals of the army to be leaders of the people.

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.

And if you shall draw near to a city to overcome them by war, then call them out peaceably.

11 If they open the gates of the city and surrender, they all will become your slaves to work for you.

If then they should answer peaceably to you, and open to you, it shall be that all the people found in it shall be tributary and subject to 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 will not listen to you, but wage war against you, you shall invest it;

13 Then, when Yahweh our God enables you to capture [IDM] the city, you must kill all the men in the city.

until the Lord your God shall deliver it into your hands, and you shall strike every male of it with the edge of 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.

except the women and the stuff: and all the cattle, and whatever shall be in the city, and all the plunder you shall take as spoil for yourself, and shall eat all the plunder of your enemies whom 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.

Thus shall you do to all the cities that are very far off from you, not [being] of the cities of these nations which the Lord your God gives you to inherit their land.

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].

[Of these] you shall not take any thing alive;

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.

but you shall surely curse them, the Chettite, and the Amorite, and the Chananite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the Gergesite; as the Lord your God 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.

that they may not teach you to do all their abominations, which they did to their gods, and [so] you should sin before 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.

And if you should besiege a city many days to prevail against it by war to take it, you shall not destroy its trees, by applying an iron tool to them, but you shall eat of it, and shall not cut it down: Is the tree that is in the field a man, to enter before you into the work of the siege?

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 the tree which you know to be not fruit-bearing, this you shall destroy and cut down; and you shall construct a mound against the city, which makes war against you, until it be delivered up.