20:1 And if thou shouldest go forth to war
against thine enemies, and shouldest see horse, and rider, and a people more
numerous than thyself; thou shalt not be afraid of them, for the Lord thy
God [is] with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
20:2 And it shall come to pass whenever thou shalt draw nigh to battle, that
the priest shall draw nigh and speak to the people, and shall say to them,
20:3 Hear, O Israel; ye are going this day to battle against your enemies:
let not your heart faint, fear not, neither be confounded, neither turn
aside from their face.
20:4 For [it is] the Lord your God who advances with you, to fight with you
against your enemies, [and] to save you.
20:5 And the scribes shall speak to the people, saying, What man [is] he
that has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? let him go and return
to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man dedicate it.
20:6 And what man [is] he that has planted a vineyard, and not been made
merry with it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the
battle, and another man be made merry with it.
20:7 And what man [is] he that has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her?
let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another
man take her.
20:8 And the scribes shall speak further to the people, and say, What man
[is] he that fears and is cowardly in his heart? Let him go and return to
his house, lest he make the heart of his brother fail, as his own.
20:9 And it shall come to pass when the scribes shall have ceased speaking
to the people, that they shall appoint generals of the army to be leaders of
the people.
20:10 And if thou shalt draw nigh to a city to overcome them by war, then
call them out peaceably.
20:11 If then they should answer peaceably to thee, and open o thee, it
shall be that all the people found in it shall be tributary and subject to
thee.
20:12 But if they will not hearken to thee, but wage war against thee, thou
shalt invest it;
20:13 until the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, and thou shalt
smite every male of it with the edge of the sword:
20:14 except the women and the stuff: and all the cattle, and whatsoever
shall be in the city, and all the plunder thou shalt take as spoil for
thyself, and shalt eat all the plunder of thine enemies whom the Lord thy
God gives thee.
20:15 Thus shalt thou do to all the cities that are very far off from thee,
not [being] of the cities of these nations which the Lord thy God gives thee
to inherit their land.
20:16 [Of these] ye shall not take any thing alive;
20:17 but ye shall surely curse them, the Chettite, and the Amorite, and the
Chananite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the
Gergesite; as the Lord thy God commanded thee:
20:18 that they may not teach you to do all their abominations, which they
did to their gods, and [so] ye should sin before the Lord your God.
20:19 And if thou shouldest besiege a city many days to prevail against it
by war to take it, thou shalt not destroy its trees, by applying an iron
tool to them, but thou shalt eat of it, and shalt not cut it down: Is the
tree that is in the field a man, to enter before thee into the work of the
siege?
20:20 But the tree which thou knowest to be not fruit-bearing, this thou
shalt destroy and cut down; and thou shalt construct a mound against the
city, which makes war against thee, until it be delivered up. |
20:1 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.
20:2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest
shall approach and speak unto the people,
20:3 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;
20:4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you
against your enemies, to save you.
20:5 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.
20:6 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.
20:7 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.
20:8 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.
20:9 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.
20:10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim
peace unto it.
20:11 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.
20:12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against
thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
20:13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou
shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
20:14 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.
20:15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from
thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
20:16 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:
20:17 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:
20:18 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.
20:19 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:
20:20 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. |