| New King James Version | English Standard Version |
| 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. | 1“When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. |
| 2So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. | 2And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people |
| 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; | 3and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread 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 is he who 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. | 5Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the 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. | 6And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the 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.’ | 7And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take 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.’ | 8And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows 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. | 9And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people. |
| 10“When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. | 10“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. |
| 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. | 11And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. |
| 12Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. | 12But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. |
| 13And when the LORD your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. | 13And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males 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 and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. |
| 15Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. | 15Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. |
| 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, | 16But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing 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, | 17but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded, |
| 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. | 18that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you 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. | 19“When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? |
| 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. | 20Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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