| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard 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 engage in 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; | 3He is to say to them: 'Listen, Israel: Today you are about to engage in battle with your enemies. Do not be cowardly. Do not be afraid, 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 is the One who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you 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. | 5The officers are to address the army, 'Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him leave and return home. Otherwise, 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 leave and return home. Otherwise 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 engaged to a woman and not married her? Let him leave and return home. Otherwise 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.’ | 8The officers will continue to address the army and say, 'Is there any man who is afraid or cowardly? Let him leave and return home, so that his brothers' hearts won't 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 will appoint military 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 must 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 it accepts your offer of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people found in it will become forced laborers for you and serve you. |
| 12Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. | 12However, if it does not make peace with you but wages war against you, lay siege to 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. | 13When the LORD your God hands it over to you, you must strike down all its males with 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 you may take the women, children, animals, and whatever else is in the city--all its spoil--as plunder. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that 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. | 15This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations. |
| 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, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. |
| 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, | 17You must completely destroy them--the Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite--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 won't teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and 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. | 19When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can get food from them. You must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human, to come under siege 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. | 20But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce food. You may cut them down to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls." |
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