CONCERNING WAR
1 “When you go out to fight against your enemies and you see chariots and horses and an army that outnumbers yours, do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, will be with you.
2 Before you start fighting, a priest is to come forward and say to the army,
3 ‘Men of Israel, listen! Today you are going into battle. Do not be afraid of your enemies or lose courage or panic.
4 The Lord your God is going with you, and he will give you victory.’
5 “Then the officers will address the men and say, ‘Is there any man here who has just built a house, but has not yet dedicated it? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will dedicate his house.
6 Is there any man here who has just planted a vineyard, but has not yet had the chance to harvest its grapes? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will enjoy the wine.
7 Is there anyone here who is engaged to be married? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will marry the woman he is engaged to.’
8 “The officers will also say to the men, ‘Is there any man here who has lost his nerve and is afraid? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, he will destroy the morale of the others.’
9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, leaders are to be chosen for each unit.
10 “When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender.
11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you.
12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army.
13 Then, when the Lord your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it.
14 You may, however, take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else in the city. You may use everything that belongs to your enemies. The Lord has given it to you.
15 That is how you are to deal with those cities that are far away from the land you will settle in.
16 “But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone.
17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do.
18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.
19 “When you are trying to capture a city, do not cut down its fruit trees, even though the siege lasts a long time. Eat the fruit, but do not destroy the trees; the trees are not your enemies.
20 You may cut down the other trees and use them in the siege mounds until the city is captured.
ACTS 21:37-40 & 22:1-5
PAUL DEFENDS HIMSELF
37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the fort, he spoke to the commander: “May I say something to you?” “You speak Greek, do you?” the commander asked.
38 “Then you are not that Egyptian fellow who some time ago started a revolution and led four thousand armed terrorists out into the desert?”
39 Paul answered, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people.”
40 The commander gave him permission, so Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the people to be silent. When they were quiet, Paul spoke to them in Hebrew:
ACTS 22:1-5
1 “My fellow Jews, listen to me as I make my defense before you!”
2 When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter; and Paul went on:
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today.
4 I persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison.
5 The High Priest and the whole Council can prove that I am telling the truth. I received from them letters written to fellow Jews in Damascus, so I went there to arrest these people and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.
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