Deuteronomii 20

1 Si exieris ad bellum contra hostes tuos, et videris equitatus et currus, et maiorem quam tu habeas adversarii exercitus multitudinem, non timebis eos: quia Dominus Deus tuus tecum est, qui eduxit te de Terra Aegypti.

When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

2 Appropinquante autem iam praelio, stabit sacerdos ante aciem, et sic loquetur ad populum:

It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people,

3 Audi Israel, vos hodie contra inimicos vestros pugnam committitis, non pertimescat cor vestrum, nolite metuere, nolite cedere, nec formidetis eos:

and shall tell them, "Hear, Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: do not let your heart faint; do not be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared 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 he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you."

5 Duces quoque per singulas turmas audiente exercitu proclamabunt: Quis est homo, qui aedificavit domum novam, et non dedicavit eam? vadat, et revertatur in domum suam, ne forte moriatur in bello, et alius dedicet eam.

The officers shall speak to the people, saying, "What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man 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 eius fungatur officio.

What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use its fruit.

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 pledged to be married a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man 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.

The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, "What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother's heart melt as his heart."

9 Cumque siluerint duces exercitus, et finem loquendi fecerint, unusquisque suos ad bellandum cuneos praeparabit.

It shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking to the people, that they shall appoint captains of armies at the head of the people.

10 Si quando accesseris ad expugnandam civitatem, offeres ei primum pacem.

When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it.

11 Si receperit, et aperuerit tibi portas, cunctus populus, qui in ea est, salvabitur, et serviet tibi sub tributo.

It shall be, if it makes you answer of peace, and opens to you, then it shall be, that all the people who are found in it shall become tributary to you, and shall serve you.

12 Sin autem foedus inire noluerit, et coeperit contra te bellum, oppugnabis eam.

If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, 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 delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword:

14 absque mulieribus et infantibus, iumentis et ceteris, quae in civitate sunt. Omnem praedam exercitui divides, et comedes de spoliis hostium tuorum, quae Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi.

but the women, and the little ones, and the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all its spoil, you shall take for a prey to yourself; and you shall eat the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you.

15 Sic facies cunctis civitatibus, quae a te procul valde sunt, et non sunt de his urbibus, quas in possessionem accepturus es.

Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.

16 De his autem civitatibus, quae dabuntur tibi, nullum omnino permittes vivere:

But of the cities of these peoples, that the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes;

17 sed interficies in ore gladii, Hethaeum videlicet, et Amorrhaeum, et Chananaeum, Pherezaeum, et Hevaeum, et Iebusaeum, sicut praecepit tibi Dominus Deus tuus:

but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hethite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite; 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.

that they not teach you to do after all their abominations, which they have done to their gods; so would you 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 shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them; for you may eat of them, and you shall not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of you?

20 Si qua autem ligna non sunt pomifera, sed agrestia, et in ceteros apta usus, succide, et instrue machinas, donec capias civitatem, quae contra te dimicat.

Only the trees of which you know that they are not trees for food, you shall destroy and cut them down; and you shall build siege works against the city that makes war with you, until it fall.