Deuteronomy 20:7-19
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 20
7And who is the man that is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would marry her.’ 8Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart!’ 9And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people.
10When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.
11And if it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and serve you.
12However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
13When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword.
14However, the women, the children, the animals, and everything that is in the city, all of its spoils, you shall take as plunder for yourself; and you shall use the spoils of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you.
15This is what you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby.
16Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave anything that breathes alive.
17Instead, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you,
18so that they will not teach you to do all the same detestable practices of theirs which they have done for their gods, by which you would sin against the Lord your God.
King James Version
Chapter 20
7And 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. 8And 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. 9And 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.
10When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
11And 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.
12And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
13And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
14But 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.
15Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
17But 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:
18That 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.
19When 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
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 20
7Has any man become engaged to a woman and not married her? Let him leave and return home. Otherwise he may die in battle and another man marry her.' 8The officers will continue to address the army and say, 'Is there any man who is afraid or cowardly? Let him leave and return home, so that his brothers won't lose heart as he did.' 9When the officers have finished addressing the army, they will appoint military commanders to lead it.
10"When you approach a city to fight against it, make an offer of peace.
11If it accepts your offer of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people found in it will become forced laborers for you and serve you.
12However, if it does not make peace with you but wages war against you, lay siege to it.
13When the Lord your God hands it over to you, strike down all its males with the sword.
14But you may take the women, dependents, animals, and whatever else is in the city--all its spoil--as plunder. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that the Lord your God has given you.
15This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations.
16However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
17You must completely destroy them--the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite--as the Lord your God has commanded you,
18so that they won't teach you to do all the detestable acts they do for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.
New Living Translation
8Then the officers will also say, ‘Is anyone here afraid or worried? If you are, you may go home before you frighten anyone else.’
9When the officers have finished speaking to their troops, they will appoint the unit commanders.
10As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace.
11If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor.
12But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town.
13When the Lord your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town.
14But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the plunder from your enemies that the Lord your God has given you.
15But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the land you will enter.
16In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing.
17You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you.
18This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.
English Standard Version
Chapter 20
7And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ 8And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ 9And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.
10“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it.
11And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you.
12But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
13And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword,
14but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you.
15Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.
16But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes,
17but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded,
18that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God.
New International Version
Chapter 20
7Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.' 8Then the officers shall add, 'Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.' 9When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.
10When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.
11If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you.
12If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city.
13When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.
14As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the LORD your God gives you from your enemies.
15This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
16However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.
17Completely destroy them--the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--as the LORD your God has commanded you.
18Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.
New King James Version
8“The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’
9And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.
10“When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it.
11And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you.
12Now if the city will not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
13And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword.
14But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the Lord your God gives you.
15Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16“But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive,
17but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you,
18lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.
