Deuteronomy 20

When your fighting men go to fight your enemies and see that they have many horses and chariots and that their army is much bigger than yours, do not be afraid of them, because God our God, who brought the Israelites safely out of Egypt, will be with you. \*

When you are ready to start the battle, the high priest must stand in front of the fighting men.

He must say to them, ‘Listen to me Israelite men! Today you are going to fight against our enemies. Do not be timid! Do not be afraid of them in any way at all,

because God our God will go with you. He will fight your enemies for you, and he will enable you to defeat them.’ \*

Then the leaders must say to the fighting men, ‘If anyone among you has just built a new house and has not dedicated it {to God}, he should go home {and dedicate the house}. If he does not do that, if he dies in the battle, someone else will dedicate the house {and live in it}. \*

If anyone among you has planted a vineyard and has not yet harvested any grapes from it, he should go home. If he stays here and dies in the battle, someone else will harvest the grapes and enjoy the wine made from them.

If anyone among you has become engaged to marry a woman but has not married her yet, he should go home {and marry her}. If he stays here and dies in the battle, someone else will marry her.’ \*

Then the leaders must also say to the fighting men, ‘If anyone among you is afraid or timid, he should go home, in order that he does not cause his fellow soldiers to be afraid like him.’

When the leaders have finished speaking to the fighting men, they must appoint commanders over them. \*

When you go up to a city {that is far away} to attack it, first tell the people there that if they surrender, you will not attack them.

If they open the gates of the city and surrender, they will all become your slaves to work for you. \*

But if they refuse to surrender peacefully and decide instead to fight against you, your troops must surround the city and break through the walls.

Then, when God our God enables you to capture the city, you must kill all the men in the city. \*

But you may take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else that you want to take from the city. You may enjoy all the things that belonged to your enemies, the things that God our God has given to you.

That is how you should make war against all the people in cities that are far from the land in which you will settle, not the people in cities in your land. \*

But in the cities that are in the land that God our God is giving to you forever, you must kill all the people and all the animals.

You must completely get rid of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. God our God commands you to do this.

If you do not do that, they will teach you to sin against God our God by doing the disgusting things that they do when they worship their gods. \*

When you surround a city for a long time, trying to capture it, do not cut down the fruit trees outside the city. You are allowed to eat the fruit from the trees, but do not destroy the trees, because they certainly are not your enemies.

You are permitted to cut down trees you know do not bear fruit and use the wood to make ladders and towers to enable you to go over the walls and capture the city that is resisting you.