Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 20
20
1“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and shall see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, for יהוה your Elohim, who brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim, is with you.
2“And it shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall come and speak to the people,
3and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: You are drawing near today to battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not fear, or tremble, or be afraid before them,
4for יהוה your Elohim is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
5“And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.
6And who is the man who has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use it? Let him also go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man should begin to use it.
7And who is the man who is engaged to a woman 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“And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Who is the man who is afraid and tender of heart? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brothers faint like his heart.’
9“And it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall appoint commanders of the divisions to lead the people.
10“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then you shall make a call for peace to it.
11“And it shall be that if it accepts your call for peace, and shall open to you, then all the people found in it are to be your compulsory labour, and serve you.
12“But if it does not make peace with you, and shall fight against you, then you shall besiege it,
13and יהוה your Elohim shall give it into your hands, and you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword.
14“Only the women, and the little ones, and the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you take as plunder for yourself. And you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which יהוה your Elohim gives you.
15“Do so to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16Only, of the cities of these peoples which יהוה your Elohim gives you as an inheritance, you do not keep alive any that breathe,”
17but you shall certainly put them under the ban: the Ḥittite and the Amorite and the Kena‛anite and the Perizzite and the Ḥiwwite and the Yeḇusite, as יהוה your Elohim has commanded you,
18lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their mighty ones, and you sin against יהוה your Elohim.
19“When you besiege a city for a long time by fighting against it to take it, you do not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. If you do eat of them, do not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man to be besieged by you?
20“Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you do destroy and cut down, to build siege-works against the city that is fighting against you, until it falls.
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Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 20: TS2009
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Deuteronomy 20
20
Rules for War
1“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and you see horses, chariots, and many more people than you have, you must not be afraid of them. The Lord your God is with you—and he brought you out of Egypt.
2“When you go to the battle, the priest must go to the soldiers and speak to them. 3The priest will say, ‘Men of Israel, listen to me! Today you are going against your enemies in battle. Don’t lose your courage. Don’t be troubled or upset. Don’t be afraid of the enemy. 4The Lord your God is going with you to help you fight against your enemies. He will help you win!’
5“The Levite officials will say to the soldiers, ‘Is there any man here who has built a new house but has not yet dedicated it? That man should go back home. He might be killed in the battle, and then another person will dedicate that man’s house. 6Is there any man here who has planted a vineyard but has not yet gathered any of the grapes? That man should go back home. If that man dies in the battle, someone else will enjoy the fruit from his field. 7Is there any man here who is engaged to be married? That man should go back home. If he dies in the battle, another man will marry the woman he is engaged to.’
8“These Levite officials must also say to the people, ‘Is there any man here who has lost his courage and is afraid? He should go back home. Then he will not cause the other soldiers to lose their courage too.’ 9Then, after the officers have finished speaking to the army, they must choose captains to lead the soldiers.
10“When you go to attack a city, you must first offer peace to the people there. 11If they accept your offer and open their gates, all the people in that city will become your slaves and be forced to work for you. 12But if the city refuses to make peace with you and fights against you, you should surround the city. 13And when the Lord your God lets you take the city, you must kill all the men in it. 14But you may take for yourselves the women, the children, the cattle, and everything else in the city. You may use all these things. The Lord your God has given these things to you. 15That is what you must do to all the cities that are very far from you—the cities that are not in the land where you will live.
16“But when you take cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you must kill everyone. 17You must completely destroy all the people—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. 18So then they will not be able to teach you to sin against the Lord your God or to do any of the terrible things they do when they worship their gods.
19“When you are making war against a city, you might surround that city for a long time. You must not cut down the fruit trees around that city. You may eat the fruit from these trees, but you must not cut them down. These trees are not the enemy, so don’t make war against them. 20But you may cut down the trees that you know are not fruit trees. You may use these trees to build weapons for making war against that city. You may use them until the city falls.
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