[[Deuteronomy 19|<< Deuteronomy 19]] | [[Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]] | [[Deuteronomy 21|Deuteronomy 21 >>]] ### Deuteronomy 20 1 WHEN 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. ^1 2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, ^2 3 And 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; ^3 4 For the LORD your God _is_ he that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. ^4 5 ¶ And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man _is_ _there_ that 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. ^5 6 And what man _is_ _he_ that has planted a vineyard, and has 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. ^6 7 And what man _is_ _there_ that has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. ^7 8 And 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. ^8 9 And 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. ^9 10 ¶ When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. ^10 11 And 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. ^11 12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: ^12 13 And when the LORD thy God has delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: ^13 14 But 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 has given thee. ^14 15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities _which_ _are_ very far off from thee, which _are_ not of the cities of these nations. ^15 16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee _for_ an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breathes: ^16 17 But 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 has commanded thee: ^17 18 That 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. ^18 19 ¶ When 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: ^19 20 Only 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 makes war with thee, until it be subdued. ^20