Deuteronomy Chapter 20
Showing all 20 verses for Deuteronomy Chapter 20.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"When 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. "
"When you go out to fight your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army bigger than yours, don't be afraid of them - the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, is with you."
Facing overwhelming odds - chariots, horses, a bigger army - fear feels natural, but God tells his people not to be ruled by it because he is with them. Jesus reminds you that when you feel outmatched by life's battles, his presence, not the size of the threat, decides the outcome.
"And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, "
"As you approach the battle, the priest is to come forward and speak to the army."
Before battle, it's the priest, not the general, who speaks to steady the people's hearts - a reminder that spiritual encouragement matters as much as strategy. Jesus wants you to seek God's voice first when you're facing something frightening, before you rely on your own plans.
"And 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; "
"He will say to them: 'Listen, Israel: today you're about to go into battle against your enemies. Don't lose heart, don't be afraid, don't panic, and don't be terrified because of them.'"
God repeats 'fear not' in several forms because he knows how deeply fear can grip a heart facing real danger. Jesus speaks the same reassurance over you today - let not your heart be troubled, whatever battle you're walking into.
"For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. "
"'For the LORD your God is the one going with you, to fight for you against your enemies and save you.'"
The reason fear can be set aside isn't human strength but that God himself fights alongside his people. Jesus wants you to know that whatever struggle you face, you were never meant to fight it alone.
"And 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. "
"Then the officers will say to the army: 'Has anyone built a new house and not yet dedicated it? Let him go home, in case he dies in battle and someone else dedicates it.'"
God allows a man to step back from war to enjoy his new home first - showing that ordinary life and joy matter to him, not just duty and sacrifice. Jesus cares about your simple pleasures and milestones too, not only what you can perform or achieve.
"And 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. "
"'Has anyone planted a vineyard and not yet eaten its fruit? Let him go home, in case he dies in battle and someone else enjoys it.'"
Like the new house, a man who has just planted a vineyard is released to enjoy its first fruits - God values the completion of hopeful labour, not just relentless obligation. Jesus wants you to know it's right to enjoy the fruit of your patient work before taking on new burdens.
"And 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. "
"'Has anyone become engaged to a woman and not yet married her? Let him go home, in case he dies in battle and someone else marries her.'"
A newly betrothed man is sent home too, because God honours the tenderness of new love and doesn't want it interrupted by death in battle. Jesus values your relationships and commitments as sacred, worth protecting even from urgent demands.
"And 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. "
"The officers will add: 'Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home, so he doesn't make his fellow soldiers as afraid as he is.'"
God makes room for the fearful to go home rather than shame or force them to fight - compassion for weakness, not contempt for it. Jesus never mocks your fear; he makes space for you to be human and still be loved.
"And 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. "
"When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they will appoint commanders to lead the troops."
Only after the fearful have gone home are leaders appointed - a stronger army isn't a bigger one but one built from those genuinely ready and willing. Jesus values quality of heart and readiness over sheer numbers in anything you undertake for him.
"When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. "
"When you approach a city to attack it, first offer it peace."
Even before war, Israel is told to offer peace first - violence is never God's default, always a last resort after other options are exhausted. Jesus calls you to be a peacemaker first in every conflict, offering reconciliation before confrontation.
"And 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. "
"If the city accepts the offer of peace and opens its gates to you, everyone inside will become your forced labourers and serve you."
When a city accepts peace, its people are spared and given a place among Israel rather than destroyed - mercy is always the preferred outcome when it's received. Jesus wants you to extend the same grace: welcome those who respond to peace rather than treating everyone as an enemy.
"And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: "
"But if the city refuses peace and chooses to fight you instead, then you are to lay siege to it."
This verse describes a specific ancient wartime context, and its harshness reflects the fallen conditions of that era's warfare rather than God's timeless ideal for how enemies should be treated. Jesus later reveals a higher way - even towards those who resist us, calling us to love rather than destroy.
"And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: "
"When the LORD your God hands the city over to you, kill every male in it with the sword."
This law belongs to a specific and limited ancient context of conquest, not a pattern for how people should treat each other today. Jesus calls his followers instead to lay down the sword altogether and overcome evil with good, not violence with more violence.
"But 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. "
"But you may keep the women, children, livestock, and everything else in the city as plunder for yourselves, and you may use the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you."
Even in ancient warfare's harsh customs, some provision was made to preserve life among the vulnerable rather than complete destruction - a seed of mercy in a hard age. Jesus calls you fully into mercy now, protecting the vulnerable not as a partial exception but as your first instinct.
"Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. "
"This is how you are to treat all the cities that are very far away from you, ones that don't belong to the nations nearby."
This verse distinguishes distant nations from those within the promised land, showing that even this ancient law had limits and specific historical purpose rather than being a universal command for all wars everywhere. Jesus calls you to see every people, near or far, as someone he loves and died for.
"But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: "
"But in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance, you must not leave anything alive that breathes."
This severe command belongs to a specific historical judgement on nations whose practices had become deeply corrupting, not a template for how to treat people who differ from us. Jesus fulfils and transforms this old covenant era, calling his people instead towards mercy, patience, and the slow, loving transformation of hearts rather than destruction.
"But 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: "
"You must completely destroy them - the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites - just as the LORD your God has commanded you."
The nations named here had become so entangled in practices like child sacrifice that this was framed as a specific act of judgement in a particular moment in history, not an ongoing pattern for God's people. Jesus instead calls his followers to overcome the darkness in this world through truth, love, and the gospel rather than the sword.
"That 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. "
"This is so they don't teach you to copy all the detestable things they do for their gods, which would make you sin against the LORD your God."
The concern here is protection from corrupting influence, not hatred of a people - God wanted his people kept from spiraling into the same abominable practices. Jesus wants you to guard your own heart from harmful influences too, while still loving the people who hold different beliefs.
"When 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: "
"When you besiege a city for a long time, trying to capture it, do not destroy its trees by taking an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down - is a tree in the field a person, that you should attack it too?"
Even amid the brutality of siege warfare, God insists on caring for the trees that give food - showing that creation and provision matter to him even in the middle of conflict. Jesus wants you to be mindful of the wider world and its resources, resisting needless destruction even under pressure.
"Only 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. "
"You may cut down only the trees you know aren't fruit-bearing, and use those to build siege works against the city that is fighting you, until it falls."
God draws a careful, practical distinction between what sustains life and what doesn't - even in war, wisdom weighs what truly matters. Jesus wants you to make thoughtful, discerning choices too, not blanket destruction, when pursuing any difficult goal.