When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots, and peoples proud, overbearing, and stronger than you, fear them not; for all of them are accounted as a single horse and a single chariot before the Lord your God, whose Word will be your Helper; for He brought you free out of the land of Mizraim.
And at the time that you draw nigh to do battle, the priest shall approach and speak with the people,
and say to them, Hear, Israel, you draw near this day to fight against your adversaries; let not your heart be moved, be not afraid, tremble not, nor be broken down before them:
for the Shekinah of the Lord your God goeth before you to fight for you against your enemies, and to save you.
And the officers shall speak with the people, saying: Who is the man who hath builded a new house, and hath not set fast its door-posts to complete it? let him go and return to his house, lest through sin he be slain in the battle, and another man complete it.
Or, what man hath planted a vineyard, and hath not redeemed it from the priest to make it common? let him go and return to his house, lest sin be the occasion of his not redeeming it, but he be slain in the battle, and another make it common.
And what man hath betrothed a wife, but not taken her? let him go and return to his house, lest sin prevent him from rejoicing with his wife and he be slain in the battle, and another take her.
Yet more shall the officers speak to the people, and say, Who is the man who is afraid on account of his sin and whose heart is broken? let him go and return to his house, that his brethren be not implicated in his sins, and their heart be broken like his.
And when the officers shall have finished to speak with the people, they shall appoint the captains of the host at the head of the people.
When you come nigh to a city to make war against it, then you shall send to it certain to invite it to peace;
and if they answer you with words of peace, and open their gates to you, all the people whom you find therein shall be tributaries, and serve you.
But if they will not make peace, but war, with you, then you shall beleaguer it.
And when the Lord your God will have delivered it into your hand, then may you smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword.
But the women, children, and cattle, and whatever is in the city, even all the spoil, you shall seize, and eat the spoil of your enemies which the Lord your God giveth you.
Thus shall you do to all cities that are remote from you, which are not of the cities of these seven nations;
but of the cities of these peoples, which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, ye shall not spare alive any breathing thing:
for destroying ye shall destroy them, Hittites, Amorites, Kenaanites, Pherizites, Hivites, and Jebusites, as the Lord your God hath commanded you;
that they may not teach you to do after their abominations with which they have served their idols, and you sin before the Lord your God.
When you beleaguer a city all the seven days to war against it, to subdue it on the Sabbath, you shall not destroy the trees thereof by bringing against them (an instrument of) iron; that you may eat its fruit, cut it not down; for a tree on the face of the field is not as a man to be hidden (put out of sight) before you in the siege.
But the tree that you know to be a tree not making fruit to eat, that you may destroy and cut down. And you shall raise bulwarks against the city which maketh war with you, until you have subdued it.