Deuteronomy 20
New American Standard Bible
Laws of Warfare
20 “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see (A)horses, chariots, and people more numerous than you, (B)do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. 2 When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people. 3 He shall say to them, ‘Hear, Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. (C)Do not be afraid, or panic, or be terrified by them, 4 for the Lord your God (D)is the One who is going with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’ 5 The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that has built a new house but has not (E)dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would dedicate it. 6 And who is the man that has planted a vineyard but has not [a]put it to use? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man [b]would put it to use. 7 (F)And who is the man that is [c]betrothed to a woman and has not [d]married her? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would [e]marry her.’ 8 Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘(G)Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, so that [f]he does not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart!’ 9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people.
10 “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall [g]offer it terms of peace. 11 And if it [h]agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your (H)forced labor and serve you. 12 However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, (I)you shall strike all the [i]men in it with the edge of the sword. 14 However, the women, the children, (J)the animals, and everything that is in the city, all of its spoils, you shall take as plunder for yourself; and you shall [j]use the spoils of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you. 15 This is what you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations [k]nearby. 16 (K)Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave anything that breathes alive. 17 Instead, you shall [l]utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18 so that they will not teach you to do [m](L)all the same detestable practices of theirs which they have done for their gods, [n]by which you would (M)sin against the Lord your God.
19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, so you shall not cut them down. For [o]is the tree of the field a human, that it should [p]be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees that you know [q]are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, so that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war against you until it falls.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 20:6 Lit treat(ed) it as common
- Deuteronomy 20:6 Lit treat(ed) it as common
- Deuteronomy 20:7 A betrothed couple was considered legally married, but did not yet live together
- Deuteronomy 20:7 Lit taken
- Deuteronomy 20:7 Lit take
- Deuteronomy 20:8 As in LXX and other ancient versions; MT his brothers’ hearts do not melt like
- Deuteronomy 20:10 Lit call to it for peace
- Deuteronomy 20:11 Lit answers peace to you
- Deuteronomy 20:13 Lit males
- Deuteronomy 20:14 Lit eat
- Deuteronomy 20:15 Lit here
- Deuteronomy 20:17 Or put them under the ban
- Deuteronomy 20:18 Lit according to all the detestable
- Deuteronomy 20:18 Lit and you would
- Deuteronomy 20:19 Read as interrogative with ancient versions; MT the tree of the field is man
- Deuteronomy 20:19 Lit come before you in the siege
- Deuteronomy 20:20 Lit that it is not a tree of food
Deuteronomy 20
King James Version
20 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.
2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,
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;
4 For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
5 And 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.
6 And 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.
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.
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.
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.
10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
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.
12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
13 And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
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 hath given thee.
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.
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 breatheth:
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 hath commanded thee:
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.
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:
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 maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.
Deuteronomy 20
Living Bible
20 “When you go to war and see before you vast numbers of horses and chariots, an army far greater than yours, don’t be frightened! The Lord your God is with you—the same God who brought you safely out of Egypt! 2 Before you begin the battle, a priest shall stand before the Israeli army and say,
3 “‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Don’t be afraid as you go out to fight today! 4 For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you the victory!’
5 “Then the officers of the army shall address the men in this manner: ‘Has anyone just built a new house but not yet dedicated it? If so, go home! For you might be killed in the battle, and someone else would dedicate it! 6 Has anyone just planted a vineyard but not yet eaten any of its fruit? If so, go home! You might die in battle and someone else would eat it! 7 Has anyone just become engaged? Well, go home and get married! For you might die in the battle, and someone else would marry your fiancée. 8 And now, is anyone afraid? If you are, go home before you frighten the rest of us!’ 9 When the officers have finished saying this to their men, they will announce the names of the battalion leaders.
10 “As you approach a city to fight against it, first offer it a truce. 11 If it accepts the truce and opens its gates to you, then all its people shall become your servants. 12 But if it refuses and won’t make peace with you, you must besiege it. 13 When the Lord your God has given it to you, kill every male in the city; 14 but you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, cattle, and booty. 15 These instructions apply only to distant cities, not to those in the Promised Land itself.[a]
16 “For in the cities within the boundaries of the Promised Land you are to save no one; destroy every living thing. 17 Utterly destroy the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. This is the commandment of the Lord your God. 18 The purpose of this command is to prevent the people of the land from luring you into idol worship and into participation in their loathsome customs, thus sinning deeply against the Lord your God.
19 “When you besiege a city, don’t destroy the fruit trees. Eat all the fruit you wish; just don’t cut down the trees. They aren’t enemies who need to be slaughtered! 20 But you may cut down trees that aren’t valuable for food. Use them for the siege to make ladders, portable towers, and battering rams.[b]
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 20:15 not to those in the Promised Land itself, literally, “which are not of the cities of these nations.”
- Deuteronomy 20:20 to make ladders, portable towers, and battering rams, implied.
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