1 When thou shalt go forth to warre against thine enemies, and shalt see horses and charets, and people moe then thou, be not afrayde of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when ye are come neere vnto the battel, then the Priest shall come forth to speake vnto the people, 3 And shall say vnto them, Heare, O Israel: ye are come this day vnto battell against your enemies: let not your heartes faynt, neither feare, nor be amased, nor adread of them. 4 For ye Lord your God goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, and to saue you 5 And let the officers speake vnto the people, saying, What man is there that hath buylt a new house, and hath not dedicate it? let him go and returne to his house, least he dye in the battel, and an other man dedicate it. 6 And what man is there that hath planted a vineyarde, and hath not eaten of the fruite? let him go and returne againe vnto his house, least he die in the battel, and another eate the fruite. 7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and returne againe vnto his house, lest he die in the battell, and another man take her. 8 And let the officers speake further vnto the people, and say, Whosoeuer is afrayde and faynt hearted, let him go and returne vnto his house, least his brethrens heart faynt like his heart. 9 And after that the officers haue made an ende of speaking vnto the people, they shall make captaines of the armie to gouerne the people. 10 When thou commest neere vnto a citie to fight against it, thou shalt offer it peace. 11 And if it answere thee againe peaceably, and open vnto thee, then let all the people that is founde therein, be tributaries vnto thee, and serue thee. 12 But if it will make no peace with thee, but make war against thee, then shalt thou besiege it. 13 And the Lord thy God shall deliuer it into thine handes, and thou shalt smite all the males thereof with the edge of the sworde. 14 Onely the women, and the children, and the cattel, and all that is in the citie, euen all the spoyle thereof shalt thou take vnto thy selfe, and shalt eate the spoyle of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee. 15 Thus shalt thou do vnto all ye cities, which are a great way off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations here. 16 But of the cities of this people, which the Lord thy God shall giue thee to inherite, thou shalt saue no person aliue, 17 But shalt vtterly destroy them: to wit, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hiuites, and the Iebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, 18 That they teache you not to doe after all their abominations, which they haue done vnto their gods, and so ye should sinne against the Lord your God. 19 When thou hast besieged a citie long time, and made warre against it to take it, destroy not the trees therof, by smiting an axe into them: for thou mayest eate of them: therfore thou shalt not cut them downe to further thee in the siege, (for the tree of the field is mans life) 20 Onely those trees, which thou knowest are not for meate, those shalt thou destroy and cut downe, and make fortes against the citie that maketh warre with thee, vntil thou subdue it.
Concerning War
1 “When you go out to fight against your enemies and you see chariots and horses and an army that outnumbers yours, do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, will be with you. 2 Before you start fighting, a priest is to come forward and say to the army, 3 ‘Men of Israel, listen! Today you are going into battle. Do not be afraid of your enemies or lose courage or panic. 4 The Lord your God is going with you, and he will give you victory.’
5 “Then the officers will address the men and say, ‘Is there any man here who has just built a house, but has not yet dedicated it? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will dedicate his house. 6 Is there any man here who has just planted a vineyard, but has not yet had the chance to harvest its grapes? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will enjoy the wine. 7 Is there anyone here who is engaged to be married? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will marry the woman he is engaged to.’
8 “The officers will also say to the men, ‘Is there any man here who has lost his nerve and is afraid? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, he will destroy the morale of the others.’ 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, leaders are to be chosen for each unit.
10 “When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender. 11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you. 12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army. 13 Then, when the Lord your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it. 14 You may, however, take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else in the city. You may use everything that belongs to your enemies. The Lord has given it to you. 15 That is how you are to deal with those cities that are far away from the land you will settle in.
16 “But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone. 17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do. 18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.
19 “When you are trying to capture a city, do not cut down its fruit trees, even though the siege lasts a long time. Eat the fruit, but do not destroy the trees; the trees are not your enemies. 20 You may cut down the other trees and use them in the siege mounds until the city is captured.