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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 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><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="../topmenuchap/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="../">NLT</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 class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/deuteronomy/20.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Regulations concerning War</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>“When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>When you prepare for battle, the priest must come forward to speak to the troops. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>For the LORD your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>“Then the officers of the army must address the troops and say, ‘Has anyone here just built a new house but not yet dedicated it? If so, you may go home! You might be killed in the battle, and someone else would dedicate your house. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Has anyone here just planted a vineyard but not yet eaten any of its fruit? If so, you may go home! You might die in battle, and someone else would eat the first fruit. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Has anyone here just become engaged to a woman but not yet married her? Well, you may go home and get married! You might die in the battle, and someone else would marry her.’</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>“Then the officers will also say, ‘Is anyone here afraid or worried? If you are, you may go home before you frighten anyone else.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>When the officers have finished speaking to their troops, they will appoint the unit commanders.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>“As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>When the LORD your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But 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.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the land you will enter. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>In those towns that the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>You must completely destroy<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the LORD your God has commanded you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>This 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.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>“When you are attacking a town and the war drags on, you must not cut down the trees with your axes. You may eat the fruit, but do not cut down the trees. Are the trees your enemies, that you should attack them? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/20-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">20:17 </span><span class="ft">The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the </span><span class="sc">Lord</span><span class="ft">, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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