20When you go to war against your enemies and you see horses and chariots and an army that is bigger than yours, don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, will be with you. ²The priest must come and speak to the army before you go into battle. ³He will say, “Listen, Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don’t lose your courage or be afraid. Don’t panic or be frightened, ⁴because the Lord your God goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies and to save you.”

⁵The officers should say to the army, “Has anyone built a new house but not given it to God? He may go home, because he might die in battle and someone else would get to give his house to God. ⁶Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? He may go home, because he might die in battle and someone else would enjoy his vineyard. ⁷Is any man engaged to a woman and not yet married to her? He may go home, because he might die in battle and someone else would marry her.” ⁸Then the officers should also say, “Is anyone here afraid? Has anyone lost his courage? He may go home so that he will not cause others to lose their courage, too.” ⁹When the officers finish speaking to the army, they should appoint commanders to lead it.

¹⁰When you march up to attack a city, first make them an offer of peace. ¹¹If they accept your offer and open their gates to you, all the people of that city will become your slaves and work for you. ¹²But if they do not make peace with you and fight you in battle, you should surround that city. ¹³The Lord your God will give it to you. Then kill all the men with your swords, ¹⁴and you may take everything else in the city for yourselves. Take the women, children, and animals, and you may use these things the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. ¹⁵Do this to all the cities that are far away, that do not belong to the nations nearby.

¹⁶But leave nothing alive in the cities of the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁷Completely destroy these people: the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded. ¹⁸Otherwise, they will teach you what they do for their gods, and if you do these hateful things, you will sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹If you surround and attack a city for a long time, trying to capture it, do not destroy its trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit from the trees, but do not cut them down. These trees are not the enemy, so don’t make war against them. ²⁰But you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build devices to attack the city walls, until the city is captured.

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