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 war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you.
2 adpropinquante autem iam proelio stabit sacerdos ante aciem et sic loquetur ad populum
When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army,
3 audi Israhel vos hodie contra inimicos vestros pugnam committitis non pertimescat cor vestrum nolite metuere nolite cedere nec formidetis eos
saying to them, “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be alarmed or 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 goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”
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
Furthermore, the officers are to address the army, saying, “Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him return home, or he may die in 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
Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy 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
Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry 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
Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.”
9 cumque siluerint exercitus duces et finem loquendi fecerint unusquisque suos ad bellandum cuneos praeparabit
When the officers have finished addressing the army, they are to appoint commanders to lead it.
10 si quando accesseris ad expugnandam civitatem offeres ei primum pacem
When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.
11 si receperit et aperuerit tibi portas cunctus populus qui in ea est salvabitur et serviet tibi sub tributo
If they accept your offer of peace and open their gates, all the people there will become forced laborers to serve you.
12 sin autem foedus inire noluerint et receperint contra te bellum obpugnabis eam
But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city.
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 has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to 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, children, livestock, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—you may take as plunder, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God gives you.
15 sic facies cunctis civitatibus quae a te procul valde sunt et non sunt de his urbibus quas in possessionem accepturus es
This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
16 de his autem civitatibus quae dabuntur tibi nullum omnino permittes vivere
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything 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
For you must devote them to complete destruction —the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—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
so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to 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 lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them?
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
But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. Use them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.
