| English Standard Version | International Standard Version |
| 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. | 1"When you go to war against your enemies and observe more horses, chariots, and soldiers than you have, don't be afraid of them, for the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt is with you. |
| 2And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people | 2As you draw near for battle, let the priest approach and speak to the army. |
| 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, | 3He will say to them, 'Listen, Israel! You're about to go into battle today against your enemies. Don't be faint-hearted. Don't be afraid, don't panic, and don't be terrified to face them. |
| 4for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ | 4For the LORD your God will be with you, fighting on your behalf against your enemies in order to grant you victory.' |
| 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. | 5"Furthermore, let the officials ask the army, 'Is there a man here who has built a new house but has not yet dedicated it? Let him go back home. Otherwise, he may die in battle and another man dedicate 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. | 6And is there a man here who has planted a vineyard and not yet benefited from it? Let him go home. Otherwise, he may die in battle and another man use it. |
| 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.’ | 7And is there a man here who is engaged to a woman and has not yet married her? Let him go back home. Otherwise, he may die in battle and another man marry her.' |
| 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.’ | 8"Let the officials also speak to the army, 'Is there a man here who is afraid and faint-hearted? Let him go back home. Otherwise, he may demoralize his fellow soldier.' |
| 9And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people. | 9"When the officials have finished speaking to the army, they must appoint officers to lead the troops." |
| 10“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. | 10"When you approach a city to wage war against it, extend terms of peace. |
| 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. | 11If it agrees to peace and welcomes you, then all the people found in it will serve you as forced laborers. |
| 12But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. | 12But if they refuse to make peace with you and instead choose war, then attack it. |
| 13And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, | 13The LORD your God will deliver it into your control, and you must execute every male. |
| 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. | 14The women, children, all the livestock in the city, and all of the spoil and plunder will belong to you. Appropriate the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God will give you. |
| 15Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. | 15Do this to all the cities that are distant from you—that is, to those cities that are not in neighboring nations." |
| 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, | 16"You are not to leave even one person alive in the cities of these nations that the LORD your God is about to give you as an inheritance. |
| 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, | 17You must completely destroy the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, just as the LORD your God commanded you, |
| 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. | 18so they won't teach you to do all the detestable things that they do for their gods. If you do what they teach you, you will sin against the LORD your God." |
| 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? | 19"When you attack a city and have to fight against it for many days, don't destroy its trees by cutting them down with an ax. You may eat from them, but you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human beings, that you would come and attack them? |
| 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. | 20However, you may cut down the trees whose fruit you know isn't edible, in order to build siege works against the city that waged war with you, until it falls." |
| 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. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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