Deuteronomy 20

1When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, {and} a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God {is} with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.● 2And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,● 3And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; {faint: Heb. be tender} {tremble: Heb. make haste}● 4For the LORD your God {is} he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.● 5And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man {is there} that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.● 6And what man {is he} that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not {yet} eaten of it? let him {also} go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it. {eaten...: Heb. made it common}● 7And what man {is there} that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.● 8And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man {is there that is} fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart. {faint: Heb. melt}● 9And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. {to lead...: Heb. to be in the head of the people}● 10When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.● 11And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, {that} all the people {that is} found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.● 12And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:● 13And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:● 14But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, {even} all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. {take: Heb. spoil}● 15Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities {which are} very far off from thee, which {are} not of the cities of these nations.● 16But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee {for} an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:● 17But thou shalt utterly destroy them; {namely}, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:● 18That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.● 19When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field {is} man's {life}) to employ {them} in the siege: {for the...: or, for, O man, the tree of the field is to be employed in the siege} {to employ...: Heb. to go from before thee}● 20Only the trees which thou knowest that they {be} not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued. {it...: Heb. it come down}●