Deuteronomy 20:3

Bible in Basic English

Give ear, O Israel: today you are going forward to the fight; let your heart be strong; do not let uncontrolled fear overcome you because of those who are against you;

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He is to say to them: ‘Listen, Israel: Today you are about to engage in battle with your enemies. Do not be cowardly. Do not be afraid, alarmed, or terrified because of them.

Hebrew Names Version
and shall tell them, Hear, Yisra'el, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: don't let your heart faint; don't be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them;

King James Version
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;

Lexham English Bible
And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, Israel, you are near today to the battle against your enemies; do not lose heart; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not panic, and you shall not be terrified because of them,

English Standard Version
and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them,

New Century Version
He will say, "Listen, Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don't lose your courage or be afraid. Don't panic or be frightened,

New English Translation
"Listen, Israel! Today you are moving forward to do battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted. Do not fear and tremble or be terrified because of them,

Amplified Bible
and shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel: you are advancing today to battle against your enemies. Do not lack courage. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble [in terror] before them,

New American Standard Bible
"He shall say to them, 'Hear, Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or be terrified by them,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And shal say vnto them, Heare, O Israel: ye are come this day vnto battell against your enemies: let not your heartes faynt, neither feare, nor be amased, nor adread of them.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are drawing near to the battle against your enemies today. Do not let your heart be faint. Do not be afraid, nor be alarmed, nor be in dread before them,

Contemporary English Version
and say, "Soldiers of Israel, listen to me! Today when you go into battle, don't be afraid of the enemy, and when you see them, don't panic.

Complete Jewish Bible
He should tell them, ‘Listen, Isra'el! You are about to do battle against your enemies. Don't be fainthearted or afraid; don't be alarmed or frightened by them;

Darby Translation
and shall say unto them, Hear, Israel, ye are approaching this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be afraid of them;

Easy-to-Read Version
The priest will say, ‘Men of Israel, listen to me! Today you are going against your enemies in battle. Don't lose your courage. Don't be troubled or upset. Don't be afraid of the enemy.

George Lamsa Translation
And shall say to them, Hear, O Israel, you approach this day to the battle with your enemies; let not your heart faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be terrified because of them;

Good News Translation
‘Men of Israel, listen! Today you are going into battle. Do not be afraid of your enemies or lose courage or panic.

Literal Translation
and say to them. Hear, Israel, you are drawing near today to battle against your enemies. Do not let your heart be faint; do not fear nor tremble, nor be terrified before their faces.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and saye vnto the: Heare Israel: Ye go this daye in to the battayll agaynst youre enemies, let not yor hert faynte. Feare not, be not afrayed, ner a drede of them.

American Standard Version
and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint; fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye affrighted at them;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And shall say vnto them: Heare O Israel, you are come this day vnto battayle agaynst your enemies, let not your heartes faynt, neither feare, nor be amazed, nor a dread of them:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and shall say unto them: 'Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies; let not your heart faint; fear not, nor be alarmed, neither be ye affrighted at them;

King James Version (1611)
And shall say vnto them, Heare O Israel, you approach this day vnto battell against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, feare not, and doe not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Hear, O Israel; ye are going this day to battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint, fear not, neither be confounded, neither turn aside from their face.

English Revised Version
and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint; fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye affrighted at them;

Berean Standard Bible
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.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou, Israel, here to dai, ye han batel ayens youre enemyes; youre herte drede not, `nyle ye drede; nyle ye yyue stede, drede ye not hem;

Young's Literal Translation
and said unto them, Hear, Israel, ye are drawing near to-day to battle against your enemies, let not your hearts be tender, fear not, nor make haste, nor be terrified at their presence,

Update Bible Version
and shall say to them, Hear, O Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: don't let your heart faint; don't fear, nor tremble, neither be afraid of them;

Webster's Bible Translation
And shall say to them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day to battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;

World English Bible
and shall tell them, Hear, Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: don't let your heart faint; don't be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them;

New King James Version
And he shall say to them, "Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them;

New Living Translation
He will say to them, ‘Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them.

New Life Bible
He will say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel. Today you are going into battle against those who hate you. Do not let your hearts become weak. Do not be afraid and shake in fear before them.

New Revised Standard
and shall say to them: "Hear, O Israel! Today you are drawing near to do battle against your enemies. Do not lose heart, or be afraid, or panic, or be in dread of them;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and shall say unto them, - Hear, O Israel, ye are coming near to-day, unto battle against your enemies, - let not your heart faint do not fear nor start nor quake because of them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Hear, O Israel, you join battle this day against your enemies, let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear ye them not:

Revised Standard Version
and shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint; do not fear, or tremble, or be in dread of them;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"He shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them,

Contextual Overview

¹ When you go out to war against other nations, and come face to face with horses and war-carriages and armies greater in number than yourselves, have no fear of them: for the Lord your God is with you, who took you up out of the land of Egypt. ² And when you are on the point of attacking, let the priest come forward and say to the people, ³ Give ear, O Israel: today you are going forward to the fight; let your heart be strong; do not let uncontrolled fear overcome you because of those who are against you; ⁴ For the Lord your God goes with you, fighting for you to give you salvation from those who are against you. ⁵ And let the overseers say to the people, If there is any man who has made for himself a new house and has not gone into it, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another may not take his house for himself. ⁶ Or if any man has made a vine-garden without taking the first-fruits of it, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another may not be the first to make use of the fruit. ⁷ Or if any man is newly married and has had no sex relations with his wife, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another man may not take her. ⁸ And let the overseers go on to say to the people, If there is any man whose heart is feeble with fear, let him go back to his house before he makes the hearts of his countrymen feeble. ⁹ Then, after saying these words to the people, let the overseers put captains over the army.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

let not: Psalms 27:1-3, Isaiah 35:3, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 41:10-14, Matthew 10:16, Matthew 10:28, Matthew 10:31, Ephesians 6:11-18, 1 Thessalonians 5:15, Hebrews 12:12, Hebrews 12:13, Revelation 2:10

faint: Heb. be tender

tremble: Heb. make haste, Isaiah 28:16

be ye terrified: Psalms 3:6, Isaiah 8:12, Isaiah 8:13, Isaiah 57:7, Isaiah 57:8, Matthew 8:26, Mark 16:6, Mark 16:18, Acts 18:9, Acts 18:10, Acts 27:24, 1 Timothy 6:12, Hebrews 13:6

Reciprocal: Exodus 14:13 - Fear ye not Numbers 14:9 - neither Numbers 21:34 - Fear him Deuteronomy 3:2 - Fear Deuteronomy 31:6 - fear not 1 Samuel 7:10 - discomfited 2 Kings 19:6 - Be not afraid Nehemiah 4:14 - General Psalms 108:11 - go forth Isaiah 7:4 - neither be fainthearted Ephesians 3:13 - ye Ephesians 6:10 - be Hebrews 12:3 - lest

Cross-References

Genesis 20:1
And Abraham went on his way from there to the land of the South, and was living between Kadesh and Shur, in Gerar.

Genesis 20:7
So now, give the man back his wife, for he is a prophet, and let him say a prayer for you, so your life may be safe: but if you do not give her back, be certain that death will come to you and all your house.

Genesis 20:12
And, in fact, she is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife:

Genesis 20:13
And when God sent me wandering from my father's house, I said to her, Let this be the sign of your love for me; wherever we go, say of me, He is my brother.

Genesis 20:14
Then Abimelech gave to Abraham sheep and oxen and men-servants and women-servants, and gave him back his wife Sarah.

Genesis 20:15
And Abimelech said, See, all my land is before you; take whatever place seems good to you.

Genesis 28:12
And he had a dream, and in his dream he saw steps stretching from earth to heaven, and the angels of God were going up and down on them.

Genesis 31:24
Then God came to Laban in a dream by night, and said to him, Take care that you say nothing good or bad to Jacob.

Genesis 37:5
Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.

Genesis 37:9
Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honour to me.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And shall say unto them, hear, O Israel,.... Exciting their attention to what he was about to say, and which, as Jarchi observes, was spoken in the holy tongue, or in the Hebrew language:

you approach this day unto battle against your enemies; were marching or ready to march, preparing to engage with them, and a battle seemed near at hand:

let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; many words are made use of to animate them against those fears which the strength, number, and appearance of their enemies, would be apt to cause in them. Jarchi observes, that here are four exhortations, answerable to four things which the kings of the nations do (in order to inject terror into their enemies); they shake their shields, to clash them one against another, that hearing their noise they may be afraid of them and flee; they prance their horses, and make them neigh, to cause the noise of the hoofs of their horses to be heard; they shout with their voices, and blow with their trumpets: and accordingly these several clauses are so interpreted in the Misnah e

""and let not your hearts faint"; at the neighing of the horses, and the brightness of swords: "fear not"; at the clashing of shields: "and do not tremble"; at the sound of trumpets: "neither be ye terrified" at the voice of shouting;''

and no doubt but it takes in everything that has a tendency to cause fear, faintness, and dismay, which they are cautioned against.

e Misn. Sotah, c. 8. sect. 1.