Deuteronomy - Chapter 20 | King James Version (KJV)

  • 1. When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, {cf15I and} a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God {cf15I 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 {cf15I 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 {cf15I 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 {cf15I is he} that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not {cf15I yet} eaten of it? let him {cf15I also} go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
  • 7. And what man {cf15I 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 {cf15I 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, {cf15I that} all the people {cf15I 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, {cf15I 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 {cf15I which are} very far off from thee, which {cf15I are} not of the cities of these nations.
  • 16. But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee {cf15I for} an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
  • 17. But thou shalt utterly destroy them; {cf15I 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 {cf15I is} man's {cf15I life}) to employ {cf15I them} in the siege:
  • 20. Only the trees which thou knowest that they {cf15I 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.
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