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

and it has been, in your drawing near to the battle, that the priest has come near, and spoken to the people,

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],

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 because Yahweh our God will go with you. He will fight your enemies for you, and he will enable you to defeat them.’

for your God YHWH [is] He who is going with you, to fight for you with your enemies—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 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 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 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 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 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 “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 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 have finished speaking to the troops, they must appoint commanders [to lead the groups of soldiers].

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 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 draw near to a city to fight against it, then you have called to it for peace,

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

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 refuse to [surrender] peacefully, and decide instead to fight against you, your troops must surround the city [and break through the walls].

And if it does not make peace with you, and has made war with you, then you have laid siege against it,

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

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 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.

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 You should do that in all the cities that are far from the land in which you will settle.

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 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].

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 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 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 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 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 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] 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 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.”

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.”