Laws for Warfare
Deuteronomy 20When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you are not to be afraid of them; for YHWH your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you. When y’all draw near to the battle, the priest is to approach and speak to the army, and tell them, “Listen, Israel, today y’all are going into battle against y’all’s enemies. Y’all must not be weak-hearted! Y’all must not be afraid, or tremble, or be terrified because of them; for YHWH y’all’s God goes with y’all, to fight for y’all against y’all’s enemies, to delivery y’all.”
The officers are to speak to the army, saying, “Has anyone built a new house and not dedicated it? Let them go and return to their house, or they might die in the battle, and another person dedicate it. Has anyone there who has planted a vineyard, but not yet enjoyed its fruit? Let them go and return to their house, or they might die in the battle, and another person use its fruit. What man is there who become engaged to a women and not married her? Let him go and return to his house, or he die in the battle, and another man take her.” The officers are to speak further to the army and say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, or his brother’s heart might melt like his heart.” When the officers have finished speaking to the army they are to appoint captains of armies at the head of the army.
When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. If it responds in peace and opens to you, then it that all the people there will become forced laborers for you and serve you. If it will not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you are to besiege it. When YHWH your God delivers it into your hand, you are to strike every male of it with the edge of the sword, but the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all its plunder, you may take for plunder for yourself. You may use the plunder of your enemies, that YHWH your God has given you. Thus you are to do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. But as for the cities of these peoples that YHWH your God is giving you for an inheritance, you must not allow anything with breath to live. You must destroy-destroy them: the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as YHWH your God has commanded you, so they won’t teach y’all to follow all their detestable ways, which they do for their gods, causing y’all sin against YHWH y’all’s God. When you besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you must not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them. You must not cut them down, for is the tree of the field a human, that it should be besieged by you? Only the trees that you know are not trees for food, you must destroy and cut them down to build siege works against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.