| 1 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and seest
horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, thou shalt not be
afraid of them; for Jehovah thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of
the land of Egypt. 2 And it shall be, when ye draw nigh unto the battle,
that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, 3 and shall say
unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your
enemies: let not your heart faint; fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye
affrighted at them; 4 for Jehovah 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 there that hath
planted a vineyard, and hath not used the fruit thereof? let him go and
return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the
fruit thereof. 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
faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's
heart melt as his heart. 9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an
end of speaking unto the people, that they shall appoint captains of hosts at
the head of the people.
10 When thou drawest 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 are found therein
shall become tributary unto thee, and 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 Jehovah thy God delivereth it into thy hand, 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 for a prey unto thyself; and thou
shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which Jehovah 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 peoples, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, thou
shalt save alive nothing that breatheth; 17 but thou shalt utterly destroy
them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the
Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Jehovah 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 would ye sin against Jehovah 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 wielding an axe against
them; for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down; for is
the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? 20 Only the
trees of which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, thou shalt
destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city
that maketh war with thee, until it fall.
Genesis - Public
Domain
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