Deuteronomy 20
1 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, thou shalt not be afraid of them; for Jehovah thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.2 And it shall be, when ye draw nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,3 and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint; fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye affrighted at them;4 for Jehovah 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 there that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not used the fruit thereof? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit thereof.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 faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart melt as his heart.9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall appoint captains of hosts at the head of the people.
10 When thou drawest 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 are found therein shall become tributary unto thee, and 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 Jehovah thy God delivereth it into thy hand, 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 for a prey unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which Jehovah 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 peoples, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth;17 but thou shalt utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Jehovah 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 would ye sin against Jehovah 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 wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee?20 Only the trees of which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it fall.
Deuteronomy 20
Laws Concerning War with Distant Enemies
1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotryt and troopst who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.2 As you move forward for battle, the priests will approach and say to the soldiers,t3 “Listen, Israel! Today you are moving forward to do battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted. Do not fear and tremble or be terrified because of them,4 for the Lord your God goes with you to fight on your behalf against your enemies to give you victory.”t5 Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops,t “Who among yout has built a new house and not dedicatedt it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone elset dedicate it.6 Or who among you has planted a vineyard and not benefited from it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else benefit from it.7 Or who among yout has become engaged to a woman but has not married her? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else marry her.”8 In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’st heart as fearfult as his own.”
9 Then, when the officers have finished speaking,t they must appoint unit commanderst to lead the troops.
10 When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace.11 If it accepts your termst and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves.t12 If it does not accept terms of peace but makes war with you, then you are to lay siege to it.13 The Lord your God will deliver it over to yout and you must kill every single male by the sword.14 However, the women, little children, cattle, and anything else in the city – all its plunder – you may take for yourselves as spoil. You may take from your enemies the plunder that the Lord your God has given you.
15 This is how you are to deal with all those cities located far from you, those that do not belong to these nearby nations.
Laws Concerning War with Canaanite Nations
16 As for the cities of these peoples thatt the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thingt to survive.17 Instead you must utterly annihilate themts – the Hittites,s Amorites,s Canaanites,s Perizzites,s Hivites,s and Jebusitesss – just as the Lord your God has commanded you,18 so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worshipt their gods, causing you to sin against the Lord your God.19 If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it,t you must not chop down its trees,t for you may eat fruitt from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it!t
20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food,t and you may use it to build siege workst against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.