Deuteronomy 20:16
BSB · Public Domain (CC0)“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.”
A short, plain-language explanation of Deuteronomy 20:16 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.
“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.”
Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)“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:”
King James Version · Public Domain“But of the cities of these peoples, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth;”
American Standard Version · Public Domain“`Only, of the cities of these peoples which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee <FI>for<Fi> an inheritance, thou dost not keep alive any breathing;”
Young's Literal Translation · Public DomainOther passages that echo Deuteronomy 20:16 — 18 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Exodus 23:31And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.
- Numbers 21:2So Israel made a vow to the LORD: “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will devote their cities to destruction.”
- Numbers 21:35So they struck down Og, along with his sons and his whole army, until no remnant was left. And they took possession of his land.
- Numbers 33:52you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
- Deuteronomy 4:21The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
- Deuteronomy 7:1When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—
- Deuteronomy 7:2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Deuteronomy 7:16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Deuteronomy 24:4then the husband who divorced her first may not remarry her after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
- Deuteronomy 31:5The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you.
- Joshua 6:17Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.
- Joshua 9:7But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?”
- Joshua 9:24The Gibeonites answered, “Your servants were told clearly that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we have done this.
- Joshua 9:27On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.
- Joshua 10:28On that day Joshua captured Makkedah and put it to the sword, along with its king. He devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. So he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
- Joshua 10:40So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes, together with all their kings—leaving no survivors. He devoted to destruction everything that breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
- Joshua 11:11The Israelites put everyone in Hazor to the sword, devoting them to destruction. Nothing that breathed remained, and Joshua burned down Hazor itself.
- Joshua 11:14The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they put all the people to the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed.
Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).