Deuteronomy 20

Rules of Warfare

1 # Deut 31.6, 8 “When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots, an army larger than your own, do not fear them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 2Before you engage in battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the troops 3#v 1; Josh 23.10and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel! Today you are drawing near to do battle against your enemies. Do not lose heart or be afraid or panic or be in dread of them, 4#Deut 1.30for it is the Lord your God who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you victory.’ 5Then the officers shall address the troops, saying, ‘Has anyone built a new house but not dedicated it? He should go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another dedicate it. 6#1 Cor 9.7Has anyone planted a vineyard but not yet enjoyed its fruit? He should go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another be first to enjoy its fruit. 7#Deut 24.5Has anyone become engaged to a woman but not yet married her? He should go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another marry her.’ 8#Judg 7.3The officers shall continue to address the troops, saying, ‘Is anyone afraid or disheartened? He should go back to his house, or he might cause the heart of his comrades to melt like his own.’ 9When the officers have finished addressing the troops, then the commanders shall take charge of them.

10 # Lk 14.31 “When you draw near to a town to fight against it, offer it terms of peace. 11If it accepts your terms of peace and surrenders to you, then all the people in it shall serve you at forced labor. 12But if it does not accept your terms of peace and 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. 14#Josh 8.2; 22.8You may, however, take as your plunder the women, the children, livestock, and everything else in the town, all its spoil. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. 15Thus you shall treat all the towns that are very far from you, which are not towns of these nations here. 16#Deut 7.1, 2; Josh 11.14But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive. 17Indeed, you shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—just as the Lord your God has commanded, 18#Ex 23.33so that they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods and you thus sin against the Lord your God.

19“If you besiege a town for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them. Although you may take food from them, you must not cut them down. Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you? 20You may destroy only the trees that you know do not produce food; you may cut them down for use in building siegeworks against the town that makes war with you, until it falls.

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Deuteronomy 20: NRSVUE

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