1 When you go out to fight against your enemies and you see horses and chariots and a force larger than you, you must not fear them, for the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Covenant Defender} is with you—He is the One who brought you up {hama’alkha: caused you to ascend} from the land of Egypt.
2 When you are drawing close to the battle line, the priest {kohen: appointed mediator} shall step forward and speak to the people {am: assembled congregation}.
3 And he shall say to them, “Hear, Israel: today you are coming near to the battle {milchamah: armed conflict} against your enemies. Do not let your heart {levavkhem: inner resolve} weaken; do not fear, do not panic, and do not be terrified in front of them.”
4 For the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikhem, Mighty Defender} is the One who goes with you, to fight on your behalf against your enemies, to save {lehoshia: bring deliverance} you.
5 The officers {shotrim: civic overseers} shall speak to the people, saying, “Is there a man who built a new house but has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, so that he does not die in the battle {milchamah: adversarial conflict} and another man dedicate it.”
6 And is there a man who planted a vineyard {kerem: Vineyard Cultivation} and has not yet enjoyed its produce? Let him go and return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and another man will begin to make use {hillel: Use Of Produce} of its produce.
7 Is there a man who has betrothed a woman and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle {milchamah: armed conflict} and another man take her {ishah: intended wife}.
8 And the officers {shotrim: delegated officials} shall address the people again and say, “Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted {yare verakh halevav: easily discouraged}? Let him go and return to his house so that he does not cause the heart of his brothers to melt like his own.”
9 When the officers {shotrim: civil administrators} have completed speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies {sarei tseva’ot: military leaders} at the head of the people.
10 When you come near a city to wage war {milhemet: organized conflict} against it, you shall call to it with an offer of peace {shalom: covenantal wholeness}.
11 If it answers you with peace and opens to you, then all the people found in it shall become your forced labor {mas: compulsory tribute} and shall serve {avadukha: complete service} you.
12 But if she does not make peace {shalem: negotiated settlement} with you and instead wages war against you, then you shall besiege {tsarta: military blockade} her.
13 When the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Divine Warrior} gives it into your hand, you shall strike every male in it by the edge of the sword {charev: means of judgment}.
14 Only the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is within the city—all its spoil—you shall plunder {tavoz: lawful plunder} for yourself; and you shall eat the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God {YHWH Elohekha, Divine Victor} has given you.
15 This is how you shall act {ta’aseh: commanded action} toward all the cities that are very far from you, which are not among the cities of these nations {hagoyim: foreign peoples} here.
16 But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheicha, Divine Inheritor} gives you as an inheritance {nachalah: allotted possession}, you shall not let live any breathing thing.
17 Yet you are to utterly destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—just as the LORD your God {YHWH ʾĕlōhêkā, Righteous Commander} has commanded you {tsivkha: binding command}.
18 This is so that they do not teach you to carry out all their abominations {to‘avotam: detestable practices} which they have done for their gods, and thus you will sin against the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikhem, Covenant Authority}.
19 When you lay siege {matsor: siege warfare} to a city for many days, fighting against it to capture it, you shall not ruin its tree {etzah: source of sustenance} by swinging an axe against it, because you may eat from it. You shall not cut it down, for is a tree of the field a person to come before you in the siege?
20 Only a tree that you know is not for food may be destroyed and cut down, and you shall build siegeworks {matzor: fortification} against the city waging war on you until it falls {ridetah: is brought down}.