Deuteronomii 20
1 si exieris ad bellum contra hostes tuos et videris equitatum et currus et maiorem quam tu habes adversarii exercitus multitudinem non timebis eos quia Dominus Deus tuus tecum est qui eduxit te de terra Aegypti
When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.
2 adpropinquante autem iam proelio 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 Israhel 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 today 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 illam
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 eam fecit esse communem et 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 to 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 faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.”
9 cumque siluerint exercitus duces et finem loquendi fecerint unusquisque suos ad bellandum cuneos praeparabit
It shall be, when the officers have finished 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 gives you answer of peace and opens to you, then it shall be that all the people who are found therein shall become forced laborers to you, and shall serve you.
12 sin autem foedus inire noluerint et receperint contra te bellum obpugnabis 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
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, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all its plunder, you shall take for plunder for yourself. You may use the plunder 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 Hettheum videlicet et Amorreum et Chananeum Ferezeum et Eveum et Iebuseum sicut praecepit tibi Dominus Deus tuus
but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, 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 follow all their abominations, which they have done for 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 ax against them; for you may eat of them. You shall not cut them down, for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged by you?
20 si qua autem ligna non sunt pomifera sed agrestia et in ceteros apta usus succide et extrue machinas donec capias civitatem quae contra te dimicat
Only the trees that you know are not trees for food, you shall destroy and cut them down. You shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.
