<= | Chapter 20 of 34 | =>
Deut.|20:1|-|When you go forth into |1|battle against your enemies, and you see horse and |a|chariot, a people more numerous than you, you shall not fear them; for Jehovah your God is |b|with you, He who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Deut.|20:2|-|And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall approach and speak to the people,
Deut.|20:3|-|And he shall say to them, Hear, O Israel! You are drawing near to the battle against your enemies today. Do not let your heart fail; do not be afraid or alarmed or terrified of them.
Deut.|20:4|-|For it is Jehovah your God who goes with you to |a|fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Deut.|20:5|-|And 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 and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.
Deut.|20:6|-|Is there any man who has planted a |a|vineyard and has not |1|partaken of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man partake of it.
Deut.|20:7|-|Is there any man who has gotten engaged to a |a|woman and has not taken her to himself? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her to himself.
Deut.|20:8|-|And the officers shall speak further to the people and say, Is there any man who is |1|afraid and whose heart fails? Let him go and return to his house, so that the heart of his brothers does not melt like his heart.
Deut.|20:9|-|And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of the armies at the head of the people.
Deut.|20:10|-|When you draw near to a city to fight against it, you shall proclaim |a|peace to it.
Deut.|20:11|-|And if it responds with peace to you and opens its gates to you, all the people found within it shall become your forced labor; and they shall serve you.
Deut.|20:12|-|But if it does not make peace with you, but rather engages in battle with you, you shall besiege it.
Deut.|20:13|-|And when Jehovah your God delivers it into your hand, you shall |a|slay every male in it with the edge of the sword.
Deut.|20:14|-|But the |a|women and the little ones and the beasts and all that is in the city, that is, all its spoil, you shall take as your plunder; and you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which Jehovah your God has given you.
Deut.|20:15|-|Thus shall you do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not among the cities of these nations.
Deut.|20:16|-|But of the cities of these peoples which Jehovah your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not allow anything that breathes to live;
Deut.|20:17|-|But you must utterly |1a|destroy them: the |b|Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, just as Jehovah your God has commanded you,
Deut.|20:18|-|So that they do not teach you to do according to all their abominations which they do for their gods and you |a|sin against Jehovah your God.
Deut.|20:19|-|When you besiege a city for many days, battling against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them; for you may eat of them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you?
Deut.|20:20|-|However, a tree that you know is not a tree for food, you shall destroy and cut down, so that you may build a siegework against the city, which engages you in battle, until it falls.
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Book of Deuteronomy
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