| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. | 1When 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. |
| 2So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. | 2When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army, |
| 3And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; | 3saying 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. |
| 4for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’ | 4For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” |
| 5“Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. | 5Furthermore, 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. |
| 6Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. | 6Has 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. |
| 7And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’ | 7Has 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.” |
| 8“The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’ | 8Then 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.” |
| 9And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. | 9When the officers have finished addressing the army, they are to appoint commanders to lead it. |
| 10“When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. | 10When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace. |
| 11And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. | 11If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you. |
| 12Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. | 12But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city. |
| 13And when the LORD your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. | 13When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword. |
| 14But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the LORD your God gives you. | 14But 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. |
| 15Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. | 15This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby. |
| 16“But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, | 16However, 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. |
| 17but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you, | 17For you must devote them to complete destruction—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you, |
| 18lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God. | 18so 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. |
| 19“When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man’s food. | 19When 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? |
| 20Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued. | 20But 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. |
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