Bible Verses about Genocide
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Compiled by The BibleStudyTools Staff
on 04/27/2026
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This is what the LORD Almighty says: âI will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.
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Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.â â
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Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt.
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He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.
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But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambsâeverything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
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Then Samuel said, âBring me Agag king of the Amalekites.â Agag came to him in chains. And he thought, âSurely the bitterness of death is past.â
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But Samuel said, âAs your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women.â And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal.
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When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nationsâthe Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than youâ
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and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.
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However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.
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Completely destroy themâthe Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusitesâas the LORD your God has commanded you.
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Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.
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Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt.
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When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.
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When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
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Then the LORD said to Moses, âWrite this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.â
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Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
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He said, âBecause hands were lifted up against the throne of the LORD, the LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.â
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As I listened, he said to the others, âFollow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion.
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Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.â So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.
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Then he said to them, âDefile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!â So they went out and began killing throughout the city.
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Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword.
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Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated.
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See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold.
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Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children.
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This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians :
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âAnnounce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, âBabylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.â
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A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both people and animals will flee away.
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âIn those days, at that time,â declares the LORD, âthe people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God.
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They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.
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âMy people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.
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Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, âWe are not guilty, for they sinned against the LORD, their verdant pasture, the LORD, the hope of their ancestors.â
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âFlee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock.
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For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.
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So Babylonia will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,â declares the LORD.
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âBecause you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions,
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your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced. She will be the least of the nationsâ a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.
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Because of the LORDâs anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be appalled; they will scoff because of all her wounds.
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âTake up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow. Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD.
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Shout against her on every side! She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others.
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Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor let everyone return to their own people, let everyone flee to their own land.
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âIsrael is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.â
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Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: âI will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
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But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
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In those days, at that time,â declares the LORD, âsearch will be made for Israelâs guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
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âAttack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,â declares the LORD. âDo everything I have commanded you.
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The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction!
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How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations!
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I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the LORD.
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The LORD has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians.
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Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant.
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Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished.
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Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the LORD our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
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âSummon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
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Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,â declares the LORD.
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âSee, I am against you, you arrogant one,â declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty, âfor your day has come, the time for you to be punished.
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The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.â
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This is what the LORD Almighty says: âThe people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go.
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Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
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âA sword against the Babylonians!â declares the LORDâ âagainst those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men!
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A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror.
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A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered.
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A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.
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âSo desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
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As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,â declares the LORD, âso no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.
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âLook! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.
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They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Babylon.
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The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.
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Like a lion coming up from Jordanâs thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?â
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Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Babylon, what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
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At the sound of Babylonâs capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations.
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This is what the LORD says: âSee, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.
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I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster.
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Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy her army.
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They will fall down slain in Babylon,fatally wounded in her streets.
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For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.
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âFlee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORDâs vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves.
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Babylon was a gold cup in the LORDâs hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad.
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Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
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â âWe would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.â
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â âThe LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.â
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âSharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
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Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon.
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You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be destroyed.
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The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.
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âHe made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
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When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
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âEveryone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.
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They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.
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He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the people of his inheritanceâ the LORD Almighty is his name.
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âYou are my war club, my weapon for battleâ with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,
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with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver,
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with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman,
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with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials.
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âBefore your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,â declares the LORD.
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âI am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,â declares the LORD. âI will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain.
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No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever,â declares the LORD.
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âLift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
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Prepare the nations for battle against herâ the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their officials, and all the countries they rule.
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The land trembles and writhes, for the LORDâs purposes against Babylon standâ to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one will live there.
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Babylonâs warriors have stopped fighting; they remain in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become weaklings. Her dwellings are set on fire; the bars of her gates are broken.
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One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured,
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the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified.â
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This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: âDaughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come.â
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âNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out.
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May the violence done to our flesh be on Babylon,â say the inhabitants of Zion. âMay our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,â says Jerusalem.
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Therefore this is what the LORD says: âSee, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.
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Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.
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Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion cubs.
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But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout with laughterâ then sleep forever and not awake,â declares the LORD.
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âI will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams and goats.
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âHow Sheshak will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! How desolate Babylon will be among the nations!
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The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.
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Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no one travels.
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I will punish Bel in Babylon and make him spew out what he has swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him. And the wall of Babylon will fall.
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âCome out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the LORD.
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Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.
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For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her.
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Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,â declares the LORD.
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âBabylon must fall because of Israelâs slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.
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You who have escaped the sword, leave and do not linger! Remember the LORD in a distant land, and call to mind Jerusalem.â
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âWe are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORDâs house.â
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âBut days are coming,â declares the LORD, âwhen I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.
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Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,â declares the LORD.
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âThe sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
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The LORD will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound.
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A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.
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I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, officers and warriors as well; they will sleep forever and not awake,â declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
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This is what the LORD Almighty says: âBabylonâs thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nationsâ labor is only fuel for the flames.â
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This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign.
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Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylonâall that had been recorded concerning Babylon.
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He said to Seraiah, âWhen you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud.
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Then say, âLORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.â
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When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates.
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Then say, âSo will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.â â The words of Jeremiah end here.
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The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.
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But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.
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All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.â
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When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.
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They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in itâmen and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
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When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it.
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Twelve thousand men and women fell that dayâall the people of Ai.
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For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai.
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But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua.
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So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day.
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He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.
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Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies.
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He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters.
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So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon.
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âCome up and help me attack Gibeon,â he said, âbecause it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.â
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Then the five kings of the Amoritesâthe kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglonâjoined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.
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The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: âDo not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.â
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So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men.
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The LORD said to Joshua, âDo not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.â
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After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise.
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The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.
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As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.
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On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: âSun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.â
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So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.
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There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a human being. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!
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Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
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Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.
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When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah,
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he said, âRoll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it.
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But donât stop; pursue your enemies! Attack them from the rear and donât let them reach their cities, for the LORD your God has given them into your hand.â
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So Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely, but a few survivors managed to reach their fortified cities.
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The whole army then returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one uttered a word against the Israelites.
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Joshua said, âOpen the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.â
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So they brought the five kings out of the caveâthe kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon.
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When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, âCome here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.â So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.
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Joshua said to them, âDo not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.â
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Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening.
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At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the poles and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day.
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That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
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Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it.
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The LORD also gave that city and its king into Israelâs hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.
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Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it.
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The LORD gave Lachish into Israelâs hands, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.
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Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his armyâuntil no survivors were left.
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Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it.
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They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish.
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Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it.
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They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.
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Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir.
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They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.
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So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.
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Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon.
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All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
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Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.
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When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph,
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and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west;
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to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah.
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They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariotsâa huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
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All these kings joined forces and made camp together at the Waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
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The LORD said to Joshua, âDo not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.â
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So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them,
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and the LORD gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left.
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Joshua did to them as the LORD had directed: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.
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At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword. (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.)
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Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself.
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Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.
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Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their moundsâexcept Hazor, which Joshua burned.
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The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed.
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As the LORD commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.
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So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country, all the Negev, the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills, the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills,
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from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and put them to death.
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Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time.
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Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle.
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For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
21
At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns.
22
No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod did any survive.
23
So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.
1
Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!
2
The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots!
3
Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpsesâ
4
all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.
5
âI am against you,â declares the LORD Almighty. âI will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.
6
I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.
7
All who see you will flee from you and say, âNineveh is in ruinsâwho will mourn for her?â Where can I find anyone to comfort you?â
8
Are you better than Thebes, situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall.
9
Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were among her allies.
10
Yet she was taken captive and went into exile. Her infants were dashed to pieces at every street corner. Lots were cast for her nobles, and all her great men were put in chains.
11
You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
12
All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater.
13
Look at your troopsâ they are all weaklings. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed the bars of your gates.
14
Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork!
15
There the fire will consume you; the sword will cut you downâ they will devour you like a swarm of locusts. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts!
16
You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away.
17
Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold dayâ but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where.
18
King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
19
Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?
1
The LORD said to Moses,
2
âTake vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.â
3
So Moses said to the people, âArm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the LORDâs vengeance on them.
4
Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.â
5
So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel.
6
Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.
7
They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man.
8
Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Rebaâthe five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
9
The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.
10
They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.
11
They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,
12
and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.
13
Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.
14
Moses was angry with the officers of the armyâthe commanders of thousands and commanders of hundredsâwho returned from the battle.
15
âHave you allowed all the women to live?â he asked them.
16
âThey were the ones who followed Balaamâs advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the LORD in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the LORDâs people.
17
Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,
18
but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.