| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of 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. |
| 2And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, | 2When you are about to engage in battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army. |
| 3And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye 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 that goeth 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.'" |
| 5And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath 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. |
| 6And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto 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 that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take 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.' |
| 8And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as 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 it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto 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." |
| 10When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. | 10When you approach a city to fight against it, you must make an offer of peace. |
| 11And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. | 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. |
| 12And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: | 12However, if it does not make peace with you but wages war against you, lay siege to it. |
| 13And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof 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, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. | 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 shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, 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. |
| 16But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: | 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 thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: | 17You must completely destroy them--the Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite--as the LORD your God has commanded you, |
| 18That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye 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." |
| 19When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege: | 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 thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be 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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