“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. 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 20:1-20 AV)
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