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

When thou dost go out to war against thy enemies, never be daunted by the sight of horsemen and chariots, and a host greater than thy own arrayed against thee; the Lord thy God, who rescued thee from Egypt, fights on thy side.

If thou go out to war against thy enemies, and see horsemen and chariots, and the numbers of the enemy’s army greater than thine, thou shalt not fear them: because the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

Appropinquante autem jam prælio, stabit sacerdos ante aciem, et sic loquetur ad populum:

When the hour of battle draws near, the high priest will take his stand there in front of the ranks, and say to the people,

And when the battle is now at hand, the priest shall stand before the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner:

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

Listen, Israel; as you join battle to-day with your enemies, there must be no faint hearts among you, no flinching, no yielding, no trembling here.

Hear, O Israel, you join battle this day against your enemies, let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear ye them not:

quia Dominus Deus vester in medio vestri est, et pro vobis contra adversarios dimicabit, ut eruat vos de periculo.

The Lord your God is here in the midst of you, and will fight on your side against your adversaries, to deliver you in the hour of peril.

Because the Lord your God is in the midst of you, and will fight for you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger.

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

And then, in the hearing of the whole army, each chieftain will make this proclamation to the men of his own company: Is there anyone here who has built a new house, and not yet handselled it? Let him go back home; shall he be slain in battle, and leave another to handsel it?

And the captains shall proclaim through every band in the hearing of the army: 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 die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

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 ejus fungatur officio.

Is there anyone here who has planted a vineyard, and not shared the first vintage of it with his neighbours? Let him go back home; shall he be slain in battle, and another take his place?

What man is there, that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not as yet made it to be common, whereof all men may eat? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man execute his office.

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.

Is there anyone here that is betrothed to a maid, and has not taken her to himself? Let him go back home; shall he be slain in battle, and leave her to wed another?

What man is there, that hath espoused a wife, and not taken her? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man take her.

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 when so much is said, let them add this further proclamation: Is there anyone here whose spirits are daunted by terror? Let him go back home, or he will daunt the spirits of his brethren, and make them cowards too.

After these things are declared they shall add the rest, and shall speak to the people: What man is there that is fearful, and faint hearted? let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.

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

And now, having said their say, let the chieftains keep silent, and let each of them set about marshalling his company for battle.

And when the captains of the army shall hold their peace, and have made an end of speaking, every man shall prepare their bands to fight.

Siquando accesseris ad expugnandam civitatem, offeres ei primum pacem.

When thou dost lay siege to a city, first of all thou shalt offer terms of peace.

If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shalt first offer it peace.

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

If these are accepted, and the gates opened to thee, the lives of all the citizens shall be spared, and they shall become thy subjects, paying thee tribute.

If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people that are therein, shall be saved, and shall serve thee paying tribute.

Sin autem fœdus inire noluerit, et cœperit contra te bellum, oppugnabis eam.

But if they refuse to listen, and offer battle, go forward to the assault;

But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against thee, thou shalt besiege it.

Cumque tradiderit Dominus Deus tuus illam in manu tua, percuties omne quod in ea generis masculini est, in ore gladii,

and when the Lord makes thee master of it, put only the men folk to the sword,

And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, thou shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the sword,

absque mulieribus et infantibus, jumentis et ceteris quæ in civitate sunt. Omnem prædam exercitui divides, et comedes de spoliis hostium tuorum, quæ Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi.

not the women and children, not the cattle or anything else that the city contains. Divide the spoil among the host, and enjoy as thou wilt all the plunder the Lord thy God has allowed thee to take from thy enemies.

Excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that are in the city. And thou shalt divide all the prey to the army, and thou shalt eat the spoils of thy enemies, which the Lord thy God shall give thee.

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

All this, when thou art concerned with some city far away from thee, not one of those in which thou art to find a dwelling.

So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in possession.

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

But in the cities that are to be thy own, no living thing must be left.

But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer none at all to live:

sed interficies in ore gladii, Hethæum videlicet, et Amorrhæum, et Chananæum, Pherezæum, et Hevæum, et Jebusæum, sicut præcepit tibi Dominus Deus tuus:

All of them must be put to the sword, Hethite and Amorrhite and Chanaanite and Pherezite and Hevite and Jebusite, as the Lord thy God has bidden thee;

But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

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

or they will teach your race to perform such detestable worship as they perform in honour of their own gods, and be false to the Lord.

Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have done to their gods: and you should sin against the Lord your God.

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 a city must be taken by force of arms, and thou hast been a long time besieging it, do not lay waste the whole countryside with thy axe, and destroy the trees that yield food. Trees are not men, to increase the number of the city’s defenders.

When thou hast besieged a city a long time, and hath compassed it with bulwarks to take it, thou shalt not cut down the trees that may be eaten of, neither shalt thou spoil the country round about with axes: for it is a tree, and not a man, neither can it increase the number of them that fight against thee.

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

Spare the fruit-trees, and be content to cut down such wild trees as are fit for other use; and so build engines to reduce the city that defies thee.

But if there be any trees that are not fruitful, but wild, and fit for other uses, cut them down, and make engines, until thou take the city, which fighteth against thee.