Laws of Warfare
When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you. 2Ch 32:7-8Deu 31:8Psa 20:7Deu 31:6Isa 43:2Rom 8:31Jos 1:5Isa 31:1 When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army, 2Ch 13:12Num 10:8-9Num 31:61Sa 14:181Sa 30:7-8Jdg 20:27-28 saying to them, “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be alarmed or terrified because of them. Heb 13:6Psa 3:6Rev 2:10Isa 8:12-13Jos 23:10Psa 27:1-31Ti 6:12Eph 6:11-18 For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” Exo 14:14Deu 1:30Deu 3:22Jos 23:10Deu 11:25Rom 8:37Psa 144:1-22Ch 32:7-8
Furthermore, the officers are to address the army, saying, “Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man dedicate it. Neh 12:271Sa 17:18Deu 1:15Deu 16:18Num 31:14Num 31:48Psa 30:1 Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit. Lev 19:23-25Deu 28:1-30Isa 65:22Jer 31:5Zep 1:13 Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.” Deu 24:5Deu 28:302Ti 2:4Deu 22:23-25Luk 14:18-20Mat 1:18
Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.” Jdg 7:3Deu 1:28Rev 21:8Act 15:37-38Deu 23:9Luk 9:62Num 32:91Co 15:33
When the officers have finished addressing the army, they are to appoint commanders to lead it.
When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace. Luk 10:5-62Co 5:18Eph 2:172Sa 20:18-22Act 10:36Isa 57:19Zec 9:10 If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you. 1Ki 9:21-22Jdg 1:28Jdg 1:30-35Jos 11:19-20Jos 16:10Jos 9:22-23Jos 9:27Lev 25:42-46
But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city. When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword. Psa 2:6-121Ki 11:15-162Th 1:7-9Luk 19:27Num 31:17-18Num 31:7-9Psa 110:1Psa 21:8-9 But the women, children, livestock, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—you may take as plunder, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God gives you. Jos 8:2Jos 22:8Num 31:92Ch 14:13-152Ch 20:25Jos 11:14Num 31:12Num 31:18 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes. Jos 11:14Num 21:2-3Deu 7:1-4Deu 7:16Jos 6:17-21Exo 23:31-33Jos 10:28Jos 10:40 For you must devote them to complete destruction 1—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you, Isa 34:5-6Deu 7:1-2Ezk 38:21-23Jer 48:10Jer 50:35-40Rev 19:18 so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to sin against the LORD your God. Deu 12:30-31Exo 23:33Eph 5:111Co 15:332Co 6:172Th 3:14Deu 7:4-5Exo 34:16
When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them? Mat 3:10Mat 21:19Deu 26:6Jhn 15:2-8Luk 13:7-9Mat 7:15-20 But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. Use them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls. Isa 37:332Ch 26:15Deu 1:28Ecc 9:14Ezk 17:17Jer 33:4Jer 6:6