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 thou goest out to battle against thy enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

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

And it shall be, when ye are come 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 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;

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 that goeth 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.

And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he should die in the battle, and another man should 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.

And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return to his house, lest he should die in the battle, and another man should eat of it.

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.

And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return to his house, lest he should die in battle, and another man should 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.

And the officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren’s heart should faint as well as his heart.

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

And it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

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

When thou comest 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.

And it shall be, if it shall make thee answer of peace, and open to thee, then it shall be, that all the people that are found in it shall be forced labourers to thee, and they shall serve thee.

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

And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt 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 thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt smite 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 cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil of it, shalt thou take to thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thy enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.

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

Thus shalt thou do to all the cities which are very distant from thee, 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 people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

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

But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

18 ne forte doceant vos facere cunctas abominationes, quas ipsi operati sunt diis suis: et peccetis in Dominum Deum vestrum.

That they may not teach you to do after all their abominations, which they have done to their gods; so should ye 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 thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees of it by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life ) to employ them in the siege:

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 which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it shall be subdued.