Deuteronomio 20

1 Cuando saliendo a la guerra contra tus enemigos vieres caballos y carros y gente más numerosa que tú, no los temas; porque Yahvé, tu Dios, el que te sacó del país de Egipto, está contigo.

And if you should go forth to war against your enemies, and should see horse, and rider, and a people more numerous than yourself; 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 Cuando os dispongáis al combate, se acercará el sacerdote y hablará al pueblo,

And it shall come to pass whenever you shall draw near to battle, that the priest shall draw near and speak to the people, and shall say to them,

3 y le dirá: ‘Escucha Israel: os dispondréis hoy para pelear contra vuestros enemigos; no desmaye vuestro corazón; no temáis, no os asustéis, ni os amedrentéis ante ellos;

Hear, O Israel; you are going this day to battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint, fear not, neither be confounded, neither turn aside from their face.

4 pues Yahvé, vuestro Dios, marcha con vosotros para pelear por vosotros contra vuestros enemigos para salvaros.’

For [it is] the Lord your God who advances with you, to fight with you against your enemies, [and] to save you.

5 Los capitanes hablarán al pueblo, diciendo: ‘¿Quién ha edificado una casa nueva y no la ha estrenado? Váyase y vuelva a su casa, no sea que muera en la batalla y otro hombre la estrene.

And the scribes shall speak to the people, saying, What man [is] he that has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man dedicate it.

6 ¿Quién ha plantado una viña y no ha comenzado aún a disfrutarla? Váyase y vuelva a su casa, no sea que muera en la batalla y otro hombre goce de ella.

And what man [is] he that has planted a vineyard, and not been made merry with it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man be made merry with it.

7 ¿Quién se ha desposado con una mujer, y aún no la ha tomado? Váyase y vuelva a su casa, no sea que muera en la batalla y otro hombre se case con ella.’

And what man [is] he that has betrothed 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 Los capitanes se dirigirán de nuevo al pueblo y dirán: ‘¿Quién tiene miedo y es tímido de corazón? Váyase y vuelva a su casa, no sea que el corazón de sus hermanos desfallezca así como el corazón suyo.’

And the scribes shall speak further to the people, and say, What man [is] he that fears and is cowardly in his heart? Let him go and return to his house, lest he make the heart of his brother fail, as his own.

9 Y cuando los capitanes hayan acabado de hablar al pueblo, los jefes de las tropas se pondrán al frente del pueblo.

And it shall come to pass when the scribes shall have ceased speaking to the people, that they shall appoint generals of the army to be leaders of the people.

10 En el caso de acercarte a una ciudad para atacarla le ofrecerás la paz.

And if you shall draw near to a city to overcome them by war, then call them out peaceably.

11 Si la acepta, y te abre, toda la gente que se hallare dentro será tributaria tuya y te servirá.

If then they should answer peaceably to you, and open to you, it shall be that all the people found in it shall be tributary and subject to you.

12 Mas si no hace paz contigo, y empieza a hacerte guerra, la sitiarás;

But if they will not listen to you, but wage war against you, you shall invest it;

13 y cuando Yahvé tu Dios, la entregare en tu mano pasarás a cuchillo a todos sus varones;

until the Lord your God shall deliver it into your hands, and you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword:

14 pero las mujeres, los niños y los ganados, con todo lo que se halle dentro de la ciudad, todo su botín lo tomarás para ti, y comerás de los despojos de tus enemigos, que Yahvé, tu Dios, ha entregado en tus manos.

except the women and the stuff: and all the cattle, and whatever shall be in the city, and all the plunder you shall take as spoil for yourself, and shall eat all the plunder of your enemies whom the Lord your God gives you.

15 Así harás con todas las ciudades muy distantes de ti y que no sean de las ciudades de estos pueblos.

Thus shall you do to all the cities that are very far off from you, not [being] of the cities of these nations which the Lord your God gives you to inherit their land.

16 Pero en cuanto a las ciudades de estos pueblos que Yahvé, tu Dios, te da por herencia, no dejarás con vida alma alguna,

[Of these] you shall not take any thing alive;

17 sino que entregarás al anatema a los heteos, amorreos, cananeos, fereceos, heveos y jebuseos, como Yahvé, tu Dios, te lo ha mandado,

but you shall surely curse them, the Chettite, and the Amorite, and the Chananite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the Gergesite; as the Lord your God commanded you:

18 a fin de que no os enseñen a imitar todas las abominaciones que ellos practican con sus dioses, y para que no pequéis contra Yahvé, Dios vuestro.

that they may not teach you to do all their abominations, which they did to their gods, and [so] you should sin before the Lord your God.

19 Cuando sitiares una ciudad por mucho tiempo, peleando contra ella para conquistarla, no destruirás sus árboles, alzando contra ellos el hacha; porque de ellos podrás comer; no los cortarás. ¿Acaso son hombres los árboles del campo y necesitan ser sitiados?

And if you should besiege a city many days to prevail against it by war to take it, you shall not destroy its trees, by applying an iron tool to them, but you shall eat of it, and shall not cut it down: Is the tree that is in the field a man, to enter before you into the work of the siege?

20 Solamente los árboles que tú sabes que no son frutales, podrás destruir cortándolos para construir fortificaciones contra la ciudad que te hace guerra hasta que se rinda.

But the tree which you know to be not fruit-bearing, this you shall destroy and cut down; and you shall construct a mound against the city, which makes war against you, until it be delivered up.