Deuteronomy 20
20
Laws Concerning Warfare
1“When you go out to war against your enemies, and see #[Josh. 17:18; Ps. 20:7; Isa. 31:1] horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is #ch. 31:6, 8; 2 Chr. 13:12; 32:8with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2And when you draw near to the battle, #[Num. 10:8, 9; 31:6]the priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4for the Lord your God is he who goes with you #ch. 1:30; 3:22; Josh. 23:10to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ 5Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not #ch. 28:30; Lev. 19:23-25; [1 Cor. 9:7]enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. 7#[ch. 24:5; 28:30]And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ 8And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, #[Judg. 7:3]‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ 9And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.
10“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, #Judg. 21:13; [ch. 2:26; 2 Sam. 20:18, 20]offer terms of peace to it. 11And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, #Num. 31:7you shall put all its males to the sword, 14#Num. 31:9 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you #Josh. 8:2 shall take as plunder for yourselves. And #Josh. 22:8you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. 15Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16But #ch. 7:1, 2; Num. 33:52; Josh. 11:14in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17but #See ch. 7:2you shall devote them to complete destruction,#20:17 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, 18that #ch. 7:4; 12:30, 31; 18:9 they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you #Ex. 23:33sin against the Lord your God.
19“When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, #[2 Kgs. 3:19, 25]you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? 20Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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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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