Deuteronomy 20

Deuteronomy Chapter 20 KJV

1The priest's exhortation before the battle. 5The officers' proclamation signifying who are to be dismissed. 10How the cities that accept or refuse the proclamation of peace are to be treated. 16The cities of the seven nations are devoted to utter destruction. 19Trees good for food must not be cut down in the siege.
1 When thou 1goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest 2horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, 3be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is 4with 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 1priest 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 afaint, fear not, and do not btremble, 1neither be ye terrified because of them;
4 For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, 1to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
5 ¶ And the 1officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not 2dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he 3die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet aeaten 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 1what 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 1man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart afaint 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 ato lead the people.
10 ¶ When thou comest nigh unto 1a city to fight against it, then 2proclaim 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 1tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
12 And if it will 1make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
13 And when the 1Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, 2thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
14 But the women, and the little ones, and 1the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou atake 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 1of 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 1teach 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 (afor the tree of the field is man's life) bto 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 ait be subdued.
Deuteronomy 20