Deuteronomii 20
1 Si exieris ad bellum contra hostes tuos, et videris equitatus et currus, et majorem quam tu habeas adversarii exercitus multitudinem, non timebis eos: quia Dominus Deus tuus tecum est, qui eduxit te de terra Ægypti.
“If you go out to battle against your enemies, and you see horsemen and chariots, and that the multitude of your adversary’s army is greater than your own, you shall not fear them. For the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, is with you.
2 Appropinquante autem jam prælio, stabit sacerdos ante aciem, et sic loquetur ad populum:
Then, as the battle now draws near, the priest shall stand before the front ranks, and he shall speak to the people in this manner:
3 Audi, Israël: vos hodie contra inimicos vestros pugnam committitis: non pertimescat cor vestrum, nolite metuere, nolite cedere, nec formidetis eos:
‘Listen, O Israel! Today you engage in a battle against your enemies. Do not let your heart be overwhelmed with fear. Do not be apprehensive. Do not yield. You should have no dread of them.
4 quia Dominus Deus vester in medio vestri est, et pro vobis contra adversarios dimicabit, ut eruat vos de periculo.
For the Lord your God is in your midst, and he will contend against your enemies on your behalf, so that he may rescue you from peril.’
5 Duces quoque per singulas turmas audiente exercitu proclamabunt: Quis est homo qui ædificavit domum novam, et non dedicavit eam? vadat, et revertatur in domum suam, ne forte moriatur in bello, et alius dedicet eam.
Likewise, the officers shall proclaim, throughout every company, in the hearing of the soldiers: ‘What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in the battle, and another man may dedicate it.
6 Quis est homo qui plantavit vineam, et necdum fecit eam esse communem, de qua vesci omnibus liceat? vadat, et revertatur in domum suam, ne forte moriatur in bello, et alius homo ejus fungatur officio.
What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not yet caused it to be common, so that all may eat from it? Let him go, and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in the battle, and another man may carry out his office.
7 Quis est homo, qui despondit uxorem, et non accepit eam? vadat, et revertatur in domum suam, ne forte moriatur in bello, et alius homo accipiat eam.
What man is there, who has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go, and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in battle, and another man may take her.’
8 His dictis addent reliqua, et loquentur ad populum: Quis est homo formidolosus, et corde pavido? vadat, et revertatur in domum suam, ne pavere faciat corda fratrum suorum, sicut ipse timore perterritus est.
After these things have been declared, they shall add the remainder, and shall say to the people: ‘What man is there who is overwhelmed by fear and is fainthearted? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he cause the hearts of his brothers to fear, just as he himself has been thoroughly stricken with fear.’
9 Cumque siluerint duces exercitus, et finem loquendi fecerint, unusquisque suos ad bellandum cuneos præparabit.
And when the officers of the army have become silent, and have completed their speech, each one shall prepare his unit to wage war.
10 Siquando accesseris ad expugnandam civitatem, offeres ei primum pacem.
When, at any time, you approach a city to fight against it, you shall first offer peace to it.
11 Si receperit, et aperuerit tibi portas, cunctus populus, qui in ea est, salvabitur, et serviet tibi sub tributo.
If they receive it, and open the gates to you, then all the people who are in it shall be saved, and they shall serve you by paying tribute.
12 Sin autem fœdus inire noluerit, et cœperit contra te bellum, oppugnabis eam.
But if they are not willing to enter into an agreement, and they begin to act against you in warfare, then you shall besiege it.
13 Cumque tradiderit Dominus Deus tuus illam in manu tua, percuties omne quod in ea generis masculini est, in ore gladii,
And when the Lord your God will have delivered it into your hands, you shall strike down anyone who is in it, of the male gender, with the edge of the sword,
14 absque mulieribus et infantibus, jumentis et ceteris quæ in civitate sunt. Omnem prædam exercitui divides, et comedes de spoliis hostium tuorum, quæ Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi.
but not the women and young children, nor the cattle and the other things that are within the city. And you shall divide all the plunder to the soldiers, and you shall eat the spoils from your enemies, which the Lord your God will give to you.
15 Sic facies cunctis civitatibus, quæ a te procul valde sunt, et non sunt de his urbibus, quas in possessionem accepturus es.
So shall you do to all the cities which are at a great distance from you, those which are not among the cities that you shall receive as a possession.
16 De his autem civitatibus, quæ dabuntur tibi, nullum omnino permittes vivere:
But among those cities which shall be given to you, you shall not permit anyone at all to live.
17 sed interficies in ore gladii, Hethæum videlicet, et Amorrhæum, et Chananæum, Pherezæum, et Hevæum, et Jebusæum, sicut præcepit tibi Dominus Deus tuus:
Instead, you shall put them to death with the edge of the sword, specifically: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you.
18 ne forte doceant vos facere cunctas abominationes, quas ipsi operati sunt diis suis, et peccetis in Dominum Deum vestrum.
Otherwise, they may teach you to do all the abominations which they have committed for their own gods. And then you would sin against the Lord your God.
19 Quando obsederis civitatem multo tempore, et munitionibus circumdederis ut expugnes eam, non succides arbores, de quibus vesci potest, nec securibus per circuitum debes vastare regionem: quoniam lignum est, et non homo, nec potest bellantium contra te augere numerum.
When you will have besieged a city for a long time, and you will have encircled it with fortifications, so that you may fight against it, you shall not cut down trees from which one is able to eat, neither shall you cause devastation with axes to the surrounding region. For it is a tree, and not a man. It is not able to increase the number of those who are fighting against you.
20 Si qua autem ligna non sunt pomifera, sed agrestia, et in ceteros apta usus, succide, et instrue machinas, donec capias civitatem, quæ contra te dimicat.
But if there are any trees which are not fruitful, but are wild, and if these are fit for other uses, then cut them down, and make machines, until you have captured the city that is contending against you.”
