Deuteronomy 20 NIV NLT Parallel

◄ Deuteronomy 20 ►

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1When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.

1“When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you!

2When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army.

2When you prepare for battle, the priest must come forward to speak to the troops.

3He shall say: "Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them.

3He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them.

4For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."

4For the LORD your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’

5The officers shall say to the army: "Has anyone built a new house and not yet begun to live in it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may begin to live in it.

5“Then the officers of the army must address the troops and say, ‘Has anyone here just built a new house but not yet dedicated it? If so, you may go home! You might be killed in the battle, and someone else would dedicate your house.

6Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it.

6Has anyone here just planted a vineyard but not yet eaten any of its fruit? If so, you may go home! You might die in battle, and someone else would eat the first fruit.

7Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her."

7Has anyone here just become engaged to a woman but not yet married her? Well, you may go home and get married! You might die in the battle, and someone else would marry her.’

8Then the officers shall add, "Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too."

8“Then the officers will also say, ‘Is anyone here afraid or worried? If you are, you may go home before you frighten anyone else.’

9When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.

9When the officers have finished speaking to their troops, they will appoint the unit commanders.

10When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.

10“As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace.

11If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you.

11If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor.

12If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city.

12But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town.

13When the LORD your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.

13When the LORD your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town.

14As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the LORD your God gives you from your enemies.

14But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the plunder from your enemies that the LORD your God has given you.

15This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

15“But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of the nations in the land you will enter.

16However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.

16In those towns that the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing.

17Completely destroy them--the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--as the LORD your God has commanded you.

17You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the LORD your God has commanded you.

18Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.

18This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the LORD your God.

19When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?

19“When you are attacking a town and the war drags on, you must not cut down the trees with your axes. You may eat the fruit, but do not cut down the trees. Are the trees your enemies, that you should attack them?

20However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

20You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.

New International Version (NIV)

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