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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Deuteronomy 20</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bsb/spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/deuteronomy/20.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmc//deuteronomy/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/deuteronomy/">Deuteronomy</a> > Deuteronomy 20</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../deuteronomy/19.htm" title="Deuteronomy 19">◄</a> Deuteronomy 20 <a href="../deuteronomy/21.htm" title="Deuteronomy 21">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div align="center" id="jump2"><a href="/niv/deuteronomy/20.htm">NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/deuteronomy/20.htm">NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/deuteronomy/20.htm">ESV</a> • <a href="/kjv/deuteronomy/20.htm">KJV</a> • <a href="/nkjv/deuteronomy/20.htm">NKJ</a> • <a href="/nasb/deuteronomy/20.htm">NAS</a></div><br /><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="1%" valign="top">BSB</td><td width="99%" valign="top" align="right"><a href="/parallel/deuteronomy/20.htm" style="font-weight:normal" title="Parallel Chapters">Parallel Chapters ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Laws of Warfare<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you. <A name="3"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army, <A name="4"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>saying to them, “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be alarmed or terrified because of them. <A name="5"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” <A name="6"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Furthermore, the officers are to address the army, saying, “Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man dedicate it. <A name="7"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit. <A name="8"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.” <A name="9"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.” <A name="10"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>When the officers have finished addressing the army, they are to appoint commanders to lead it. <A name="11"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace. <A name="12"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you. <A name="13"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city. <A name="14"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword. <A name="15"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But the women, children, livestock, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—you may take as plunder, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God gives you. <A name="16"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby. <A name="17"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes. <A name="18"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>For you must devote them to complete destruction<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> —the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you, <A name="19"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to sin against the LORD your God. <A name="20"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them? <span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/20-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. Use them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">17</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Forms of the Hebrew <i>cherem</i><span class="thin"> </span> refer to the giving over of things or persons to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.<br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href=http://berean.bible>www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. Used by Permission. 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