For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”
Parallel translations
- WEB for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
- KJV For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
- NKJV for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
- NASB for the Lord your God is the One who is going with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
- NLT For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The LORD Himself goes with Israel to fight for them and save them. Victory ultimately belongs to God, who battles on His people's behalf.
Overview
The ground of Israel's courage is that God accompanies them to fight their enemies and grant deliverance. The battle is the LORD's, and salvation is His work. This points to the gospel pattern in which God fights for His people and wins the decisive victory through Christ over sin, death, and the powers of darkness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Exod 14:14The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
- Deut 1:30The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt
- Josh 23:10One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.
- Deut 3:22Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.”
- Deut 11:25No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
- Rom 8:37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
- Ps 144:1–2Of David. Blessed be the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
- 2 Chr 32:7–8“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater One with us than with him.
- Deut 32:30How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
- 2 Chr 13:12Now behold, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with their trumpets sound the battle call against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”
- Josh 10:42And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 20:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.