DeuteronomyChapter 20

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¹You will go out to fight against your enemies. You may see horses and chariots and an army bigger than yours. Do not be afraid of them. The LORD your God is with you. He is the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ²When you are about to go into battle, the priest must come forward and speak to the army. ³He must say to them, "Listen, Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not lose heart or be afraid. Do not panic or be terrified of them. ⁴The LORD your God is going with you. He will fight for you against your enemies. He will give you the victory." ⁵Then the officers must speak to the army. They must say, "Has anyone built a new house but not yet dedicated it? He should go home. Otherwise he might die in battle, and someone else would dedicate it. ⁶Has anyone planted a vineyard but not yet started to enjoy its fruit? He should go home. Otherwise he might die in battle, and someone else would enjoy its fruit. ⁷Is anyone engaged to a woman but not yet married to her? He should go home. Otherwise he might die in battle, and someone else would marry her." ⁸Then the officers must say more to the army. They must say, "Is anyone afraid or losing heart? He should go home. Then his brothers won't lose heart like him."a ⁹When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they must choose commanders to lead it. ¹⁰When you march up to a city to attack it, first offer its people peace. ¹¹They may accept your offer of peace and open their gates. If they do, all the people there will become your forced workers and serve you. ¹²But they may refuse to make peace with you and fight against you. If so, surround that city and attack it. ¹³The LORD your God will hand it over to you. Then you must kill every man in it with the sword. ¹⁴But you may take the women, the children, the animals, and everything else in the city. All of it is yours to take. You may use what you take from your enemies. The LORD your God gives it to you. ¹⁵This is how you must treat all the cities that are far away from you. These are the cities that do not belong to the nations nearby. ¹⁶But some cities belong to the nations the LORD your God is giving you as your own land. In those cities, do not leave alive anything that breathes. ¹⁷You must completely destroy them. Destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded you. ¹⁸If you don't, they will teach you to do all the disgusting things they do for their gods. Then you would sin against the LORD your God. ¹⁹You may surround a city and fight against it for a long time to capture it. Even then, do not destroy its trees by cutting them with an axe. You can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees in the field people, that you should attack them? ²⁰But you may destroy trees you know do not grow fruit. Use them to build attack works against the city that is fighting you. Use them until the city falls.