Online Bible

Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 20

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Deuteronomy 20 NWT - New World TranslationDeuteronomy 20 NWT - New World Translation

Chapter 20 of Deuteronomy—New World Translation (NWT)

  1. ¶ “In case you go out to the battle against your enemies and you actually see horses and war chariots,1 a people more numerous than you, you must not be afraid of them; for Jehovah your God is with you,2 who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.3
  2. And it must occur that when YOU have drawn near to the battle, the priest must also approach and speak to the people.4
  3. And he must say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, YOU are drawing near today to the battle against YOUR enemies. Do not let YOUR hearts be timid.5 Do not be afraid and run in panic or shudder because of them,6
  4. for Jehovah[a] YOUR God is marching with YOU to fight for YOU against YOUR enemies so as to save YOU.’7
  5. ¶ “The officers8 too must speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that has built a new house and has not inaugurated it? Let him go and return to his house, for fear he may die in the battle and another man should inaugurate it.9
  6. And who is the man that has planted a vineyard and not begun to use it? Let him go and return to his house, for fear he may die in the battle and another man should begin to use it.10
  7. And who is the man that has become engaged to a woman and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house,11 for fear he may die in the battle and another man should take her.’
  8. And the officers must speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is fearful and fainthearted?12 Let him go and return to his house, that he may not cause the hearts of his brothers to melt as his own heart.’13
  9. And it must occur that when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they must also appoint chiefs[b] of the armies at the head of the people.[c]
  10. ¶ “In case you draw near to a city to fight against it, you must also announce to it terms of peace.14
  11. And it must occur that if it gives a peaceful answer to you and it has opened up to you, it must even occur that all the people found in it should become yours for forced labor, and they must serve you.15
  12. But if it does not make peace with you,16 and it actually makes war with you and you have to besiege it,
  13. Jehovah[d] your God also will certainly give it into your hand, and you must strike every male in it with the edge of the sword.17
  14. Only the women and the little children18 and the domestic animals19 and everything that happens to be in the city, all its spoil you will plunder for yourself;20 and you must eat the spoil of your enemies, whom Jehovah your God has given to you.21
  15. ¶ “That is the way you will do to all the cities very far away from you that are not of the cities of these nations.
  16. It is only of the cities of these peoples that Jehovah your God is giving you as an inheritance that you must not preserve any breathing thing[e] alive,22
  17. because you should without fail devote them to destruction, the Hitʹtites and the Amʹor·ites, the Caʹnaan·ites and the Perʹiz·zites, the Hiʹvites and the Jebʹu·sites,23 just as Jehovah your God has commanded you;
  18. in order that they may not teach YOU to do according to all their detestable things, which they have done to their gods, and YOU may indeed sin against Jehovah[f] YOUR God.24
  19. ¶ “In case you lay siege to a city many days by fighting against it so as to capture it, you must not ruin its trees by wielding an ax against them; for you should eat from them, and you must not cut them down,25 for is the tree of the field a man to be besieged by you?[g]
  20. Only a tree that you know is not a tree for food, it is the one you should ruin, and you must cut it down and build siegeworks26 against the city that is making war with you, until it falls.[h]

FOOTNOTES

  1. ^ See App 1C §1.
  2. ^ “Chiefs of.” Heb., sa·rehʹ.
  3. ^ “Then each one will prepare his wedge-shaped divisions to do battle,” Vg.
  4. ^ See App 1C §1.
  5. ^ “Any breathing thing,” LXX; MSamSy, “any breath.”
  6. ^ See App 1C §1.
  7. ^ Lit., “to come into the siege before you?”
  8. ^ Or, “goes down.”

REFERENCES

  1. ^ Jos 11:4
  2. ^ De 3:22; 31:6; Ps 20:7; 46:7; Pr 21:31; Ro 8:31
  3. ^ Ex 13:3
  4. ^ Nu 31:6; Jg 20:28; 1Sa 30:7; 2Ch 13:12
  5. ^ Ps 27:3; Is 35:4; 41:10
  6. ^ Ps 3:6
  7. ^ Ex 14:14; De 32:30; Jos 23:10
  8. ^ Nu 31:14; De 16:18
  9. ^ Ec 2:24
  10. ^ Ps 145:9; Ec 3:13
  11. ^ De 24:5
  12. ^ Jg 7:3
  13. ^ Nu 13:33; 14:1; 32:9; De 1:28; Ac 21:13
  14. ^ Jos 11:19
  15. ^ Le 25:46; De 20:15; Jos 9:22, 27
  16. ^ Ps 120:7
  17. ^ Nu 31:7
  18. ^ Nu 31:9, 18
  19. ^ Jos 8:2
  20. ^ Nu 31:12, 27; 2Ch 14:13; Ps 68:12
  21. ^ Jos 22:8
  22. ^ Jos 6:17; 10:28; 11:11
  23. ^ De 7:1
  24. ^ Ex 34:15; De 7:4; Jos 23:12; Ps 106:35; Is 2:6; 1Co 5:6; 15:33
  25. ^ Ne 9:25
  26. ^ 2Ch 26:15; Ec 9:14; Is 37:33; Je 6:6; Eze 17:17

Read Deuteronomy Chapter 20 in other Bible versions:

Comments

  1. Kiamia DoelKiamia Doel
    Jan 9, 2025 23:00 GMT

    The NWT adds words to the text that are not in the greek Manuscripts to fit it's own doctrinal position for example

    Compare the wording of the NWT and the NKJV at Colossians 1:15-17

    NKJV says

    15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

    NWT says

    15 He is the image of the invisible God,the firstborn OF all creation;16 because by means of him all OTHER things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible,whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All OTHER things have been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all OTHER things,and by means of him all OTHER things were made to exist,

    The word “other” is not in the Greek but they add it Why? So they can decieve their followers into thinking that Christ was created by the Father and that he then created other things, that is not what the Greek says.

    1. SmeSme
      Feb 27, 2025 11:17 GMT

      Truth is from God and those that follow him. As for lies? John8:44

      Kiamia, I noticed you used a modern version of kjv to make your point about the nwt.

      Why didn’t you use the original kjv of col1:15?

      Is it because it disproves your point? It proves the opposite of what you wrote?

      Here is kjv col1:15 ¶” Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn OF every creature:“

      Now I appeal to your Christian nature to correct your mistake as God is watching each of us, and let us bless the God of Jesus his father.

      Kjv 1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ….

  2. YanekYanek
    Dec 24, 2024 22:18 GMT

    Joshua, Jehovah’s Witnesses have never denied the deity of the Messiah in his prehuman existence. While on Earth he was fully 100% human. I do not mean he was a mere human, he was not affected by Adam’s unfaithful behavior, he was sinless.

  3. David yakubuDavid yakubu
    Oct 29, 2022 08:05 GMT

    When i do read some comments and seeing that its the same people that are supposed to be called believers but are talking ill of other denominations, it hurts. Let us all remember that We should judge not

    1. jonas smithjonas smith
      Apr 23, 2023 02:57 GMT

      The bible tells us to test the spirits. Satan disguises himself as angel of light. So yes some denomination are not teaching the truth. You are responsible for judging which ones are not. You have to judge the truth at all times. this is what the bible teaches

  4. THTH
    Apr 7, 2021 00:20 GMT

    The NWT is a very good translation. Dr. Jason David BeDuhn PhD attests to that in his book Truth in Translation. drive.google.com/...5p16melHzg8/view

    1. James LernerJames Lerner
      Jul 20, 2024 09:48 GMT

      The NWT is Satanic filth to its very core.

      The JW Cult is Satanic to its very core.

      Praise Yahweh I will never be a victim of JW brainwashing. If I burn in Hell for eternity or I am ultimately annihilated so be it

      May Yahweh's curse rest on the Watchtower Society and its Satanic leadership

    2. jim mcleodjim mcleod
      Aug 22, 2021 06:16 GMT

      NWT is a false translation that takes away from the deity of Jesus !

  5. SlightlyChaoticSlightlyChaotic
    Jan 30, 2021 16:33 GMT

    Thank you for taking the time to provide this service. I like seeing the NASB on your web page in the same format as I read on paper. On other sites, the text area is smaller, and so I have to keep scrolling down to read and sometimes I lose the context. So I really appreciate the format.

    As far as the NWT, you are certainly free to do whatever you think best with your own web pages. I'd suggest that you make a note anytime you have a translation that is associated with only one denomination or church, for example:
    New World Translation (Jehovah's Witness version).

    In Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares. the main idea seems to be that you can't easily distinguish between God's people and not-God's people on this earth, so our Lord's response is to wait until they are shown to be the kind of people they are inside. But the NWT seems like false teaching to me. So I think the warning passages from Jesus' apostles are more applicable, as in 2 Peter 3:15-16, when he talks about Paul's writings:
    "There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."
    And we also have the positive exhortations, as in 2 Timothy 2:15:
    "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

    1. BroderickBroderick
      Jan 31, 2021 00:57 GMT

      Your suggestion regarding the denominational flagging is duly noted. But I can’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a Catholic also want “Protestant versions” marked as well?

      As for the parable, I’m pretty sure the slaves were convinced in their own minds that they could tell the tares from the wheat. After all, aren’t they the ones who identified the problem in the first place? But the master obviously thought otherwise.

      Furthermore, even at the time when Jesus himself was walking the earth, not everybody who claimed fellowship actually followed him causing John to inquire at Mark 9:39, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him . . . for he who is not against us is for us.”

  6. Joshua HarderJoshua Harder
    Dec 11, 2020 17:48 GMT

    Hello, question.. why have you included the NWT with other legitimate bible translations? Or why have you not atleast included a warning to readers? Don't you fear that someone could be influenced by the Watchtower's intentional heresies? Thank you.

    1. KevinKevin
      Jul 11, 2021 17:45 GMT

      en.m.wikipedia.org/..._Holy_Scriptures

      See the section critical review

    2. ChrisChris
      Jan 8, 2021 07:15 GMT

      Please site these intentional heresies. I am well versed in the watch tower outline and agree they are in many ways incorrect but i also bet i can point many out from EVERY established or main denomination. There is much to learn from them all as one who drinks milk?

      Judge not lest ye be judged, that is not to pass judgement on you either brother.

      I debate with scripture. I don't hold it to be true that Michael is Y'Shua HaMeshiach but I also firmly hold it to be true that our G-d and Heavenly Father are not the word encarnate and only begotten son.

      I love not seeing "lord" which i relate to baal. I feel the catholic church is a satanic establishment and I am aware a freemason started the hovies but there are evil in high places and our fight is also with principalities.

      What i'm saying is that in my darkest hours, those two were some of if not the only ones who would bring a Bible and eucharist and pray with me.

      We all fall short of the glory of G-d.

      Don't forget the NWT was recognized as the most accurate translation on Jeopardy.

      Lastly, this is different I noted than the NWT i have read and am very familiar with. Pull up the watchtower page and compare. I truly look forward to getting this one!

  7. julietjuliet
    Aug 17, 2022 09:36 GMT

    the sky is blue

  8. mercymercy
    Aug 12, 2022 21:23 GMT

    i am Mercy, the sky is blue what else do you need

    1. mercymercy
      Aug 12, 2022 21:25 GMT

      i am so sorry, it was a big mistake

  9. God is able to do all thingsGod is able to do all things
    May 17, 2021 17:59 GMT

    Jesus how much love calling yo name

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    Jul 4, 2025 19:06 GMT

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