Deuteronomy 20
1 'When thou goest out to battle against thine enemy, and hast seen horse and chariot — a people more numerous than thou — thou art not afraid of them, for Jehovah thy God [is] with thee, who is bringing 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 hath been, in your drawing near unto the battle, that the priest hath come nigh, and spoken unto the people,
When you are ready to start the battle, the Supreme Priest must stand in front of the troops.
3 and said unto them, Hear, Israel, ye are drawing near to-day to battle against your enemies, let not your hearts be tender, fear not, nor make haste, nor be terrified at their presence,
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 Jehovah your God [is] He who is going with you, to fight for you with your enemies — to save 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 authorities have spoken unto the people, saying, Who [is] the man that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? — let him go and turn back to his house, lest he die in 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 who [is] the man that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not made it common? — let him go and turn back to his house, lest he die in battle, and another man make it common.
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 who [is] the man that hath betrothed a woman, and hath not taken her? — let him go and turn back to his house, lest he die in 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 authorities have added to speak unto the people, and said, Who [is] the man that is afraid and tender of heart? — let him go and turn back to his house, and the heart of his brethren doth not melt like 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 hath come to pass as the authorities finish to speak unto the people, that they have appointed princes of the hosts 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 drawest near unto a city to fight against it, then thou hast called unto it for 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 hath been, if Peace it answer thee, and hath opened to thee, then it hath come to pass — all the people who are found in it are to thee for tributaries, and have served thee.
If they open the gates of the city and surrender, they all will become your slaves to work for you.
12 'And if it doth not make peace with thee, and hath made with thee war, then thou hast laid siege against 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 Jehovah thy God hath given it into thy hand, and thou hast smitten every male of it by the mouth 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 Only, the women, and the infants, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, thou dost seize for thyself, and thou hast eaten the spoil of thine enemies which Jehovah thy God hath given to 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 So thou dost do to 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 'Only, of the cities of these peoples which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee [for] an inheritance, thou dost not keep alive any breathing;
“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 for thou dost certainly devote the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as Jehovah 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 so that they teach you not to do according to all their abominations which they have done to their gods, and ye have sinned against Jehovah 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 layest siege unto a city many days, to fight against it, to capture it, thou dost not destroy its trees to force an axe against them, for of them thou dost eat, and them thou dost not cut down — for man's [is] the tree of the field — to go in at thy presence in the 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, the tree, which thou knowest that it [is] not a fruit-tree, it thou dost destroy, and hast cut down, and hast built a bulwark against the city which is making with thee war till thou hast subdued it.
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.”
