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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//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 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></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="../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="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</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">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Laws for Going to War</h3><h5 class="sp">Moses said to Israel:</h5><p class="par"><span class="v5_20_1"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.1" class="v5_20_1">1</span>If you have to go to war, you may find yourselves facing an enemy army that is bigger than yours and that has horses and chariots. But don't be afraid! The <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God rescued you from Egypt, and he will help you fight. </span><span class="v5_20_2"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.2" class="v5_20_2">2</span>Before you march into battle, a priest will go to the front of the army </span><span class="v5_20_3"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.3" class="v5_20_3">3</span>and say, “Soldiers of Israel, listen to me! Today when you go into battle, don't be afraid of the enemy, and when you see them, don't panic. </span><span class="v5_20_4"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.4" class="v5_20_4">4</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God will fight alongside you and help you win the battle.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_20_5"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.5" class="v5_20_5">5</span>Then the tribal officials will say to the troops:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_20_5">If any of you have built a new house, but haven't yet moved in, you may go home. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to live in your new house.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_20_6"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.6" class="v5_20_6">6</span>If any of you have planted a vineyard but haven't had your first grape harvest, you may go home. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to enjoy your grapes.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_20_7"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.7" class="v5_20_7">7</span>If any of you are engaged to be married, you may go back home and get married. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to marry the woman you are engaged to.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v5_20_8"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.8" class="v5_20_8">8</span>Finally, if any of you are afraid, you may go home. We don't want you to discourage the other soldiers.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_20_9"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.9" class="v5_20_9">9</span>When the officials are finished giving these orders, they will appoint officers to be in command of the army.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_20_10"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.10-Deut.20.15" class="v5_20_10">10-15</span>Before you attack a town that is far from your land, offer peace to the people who live there. If they surrender and open their town gates, they will become your slaves. But if they reject your offer of peace and try to fight, surround their town and attack. Then, after the <span class="nd">Lord</span> helps you capture it, kill all the men. Take the women and children as slaves and keep the livestock and everything else of value.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_20_16"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.16" class="v5_20_16">16</span>Whenever you capture towns in the land the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God is giving you, be sure to kill all the people and animals. </span><span class="v5_20_17"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.17" class="v5_20_17">17</span>He has commanded you to completely wipe out the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. </span><span class="v5_20_18"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.18" class="v5_20_18">18</span>If you allow them to live, they will persuade you to worship their disgusting gods, and you will be unfaithful to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_20_19"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.19" class="v5_20_19">19</span>When you are attacking a town, don't chop down its fruit trees, not even if you have had the town surrounded for a long time. Fruit trees aren't your enemies, and they produce food that you can eat, so don't cut them down. </span><span class="v5_20_20"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.20.20" class="v5_20_20">20</span>You may need wood to make ladders and towers to help you get over the walls and capture the town. But use only trees that you know are not fruit trees.</span></p> </div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). 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