Deuteronomy 20
1 When thou goest out to battle against thy enemies, and thou seest horse, and chariot, people more in number than thou: be not afraid of them; for the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
“When your [soldiers] go to fight your enemies, and you see that they have many horses and chariots and that their army is much bigger than yours, do not be afraid of them, because Yahweh our God, who brought your [ancestors safely] out of Egypt, will be with you.
2 And it shall be, when ye come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people;
When you are ready to start the battle, the Supreme Priest must stand in front of the troops.
3 And he shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye come nigh this day unto the battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and be not downcast, and do not tremble because of them:
He must say to them, ‘You Israeli men, listen to me! Today you are going to fight against your enemies. Do not be timid or afraid [DOU] or tremble or panic [DOU],
4 For the Lord your God it is who goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to help you.
because Yahweh our God will go with you. He will fight your enemies for you, and he will enable you to defeat them.’
5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there who hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
Then the army officers must say to the troops, ‘If anyone among you has just built a new house [RHQ] and has not dedicated it [to God], he should go home [and dedicate the house]. If he does not do that, if he dies in the battle, someone else will dedicate the house [and live in it].
6 And what man is there who hath planted a vineyard, and hath not redeemed it? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man redeem it.
If anyone among you has planted a vineyard and has not yet harvested any grapes from it [RHQ], he should go home. If he [stays here and] dies in the battle, someone else will [harvest the grapes and] enjoy [the wine made from them].
7 And 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.
If anyone among you has become engaged to marry a woman [but has not married her yet] [RHQ], he should go home. If [he stays here and] dies in the battle, someone else will marry her.’
8 And the officers shall speak yet farther unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, that the heart of his brethren become not as faint as his heart.
“Then the officers must also say, ‘If anyone among you is afraid or timid [RHQ], he should go home, in order that he does not cause his fellow soldiers to also stop being courageous.’
9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall appoint captains of the armies at the head of the people.
And when the officers have finished speaking to the troops, they must appoint commanders [to lead the groups of soldiers].
10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to make war against it, then summon it with words of peace.
“When you come near a city [that is far away] to attack it, first tell the people there that if they surrender, you will not attack them.
11 And it shall be, if it make thee an answer of peace, and open [its gates] unto thee: then shall it be, that all the people that are found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
If they open the gates of the city and surrender, they all will become your slaves to work for you.
12 But if it will not make peace with thee, and wageth war against thee; then shalt thou besiege it;
But if they refuse to [surrender] peacefully, and decide instead to fight against you, your troops must surround the city [and break through the walls].
13 And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword;
Then, when Yahweh our God enables you to capture [IDM] the city, you must kill all the men in the city.
14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that may be in the city, all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take as booty unto thyself; and thou shalt enjoy the spoil of thy enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
But you are allowed to take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else [that you want to take] from the city. You will be allowed to enjoy all the things that belonged to your enemies; it is Yahweh our God who has given those things to you.
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.
You should do that in all the cities that are far from the land in which you will settle.
16 But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, shalt thou not let live a single soul.
“But in the cities that are in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, you must kill all the people and all the animals [LIT].
17 But thou shalt utterly devote them; namely, the Hittites, and the Emorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee;
You must get rid of them completely. Get rid of the Heth people-group, the Amor people-group, the Canaan people-group, the Periz people-group, the Hiv people-group, and the Jebus people-group; that is what Yahweh our God commanded you to do.
18 In order that they may not teach you to do in accordance with all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; and ye would thus sin against the Lord your God.
If you do not do that, they will teach you to sin against Yahweh our God and do the disgusting things that they do when they worship their gods.
19 When thou besiegest a city a long time, to make war against it to capture it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them; for of them thou mayest eat, and thou shalt not cut them down, [for man liveth of the trees of the field, ] to employ them in thy siege;
“When you surround a city for a long time, trying to capture it, do not cut down the fruit trees [outside the city]. You are allowed to eat the fruit from the trees, but do not get rid of the trees, because they certainly are not [RHQ] your enemies.
20 Only those trees of which thou knowest that they are not fruit-trees, thou mayest destroy and cut down; and [thus] thou canst build bulwarks against the city that wageth war with thee, until it be subdued.
You are permitted to cut down the other trees and use the wood to make ladders and towers to enable you to [go over the walls and] capture the city.”
