20

Principles Governing Warfare

¹“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see ⚓horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be ⚓afraid of them; for the Lord your God is⚓with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. ²So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. ³And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; ⁴for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, ⚓to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’
⁵“Then 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. ⁶Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. ⁷⚓And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’
⁸“The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ⚓‘What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’ ⁹And so 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“When you go near a city to fight against it, ⚓then proclaim an offer of peace to it. ¹¹And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. ¹²Now if the city will not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. ¹³And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, ⚓you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. ¹⁴But the women, the little ones, ⚓the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and ⚓you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the Lord your God gives you. ¹⁵Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
¹⁶“But ⚓of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, ¹⁷but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, ¹⁸lest ⚓they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you ⚓sin against the Lord your God.
¹⁹“When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man’s food. ²⁰Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued.

20

Kevcai ua rog

¹Thaus mej moog ua rog rua yeeb ncuab yog mej pum neeg hab tsheb ua rog hab tub rog coob dua mej mas mej tsw xob ntshai puab tsua qhov mej tug Vaajtswv Yawmsaub kws coj mej tawm huv Iyi tebchaws lug nrug nraim mej nyob. ²Thaus mej tuaj ze yuav ua rog, tug pov thawj yuav tawm tuaj has rua cov pejxeem, ³mas yuav has tas, “Cov Yixayee 'e, ca le tig ntsej noog. Nub nua mej tuaj ze yuav ua rog rua mej cov yeeb ncuab, mej tsw xob poob sab tsw xob ntshai tsw xob tshee tsw xob raag, ⁴tsua qhov Yawmsaub kws yog mej tug Vaajtswv yog tug kws nrug mej moog ua rog rua mej cov yeeb ncuab paab mej kov yeej.” ⁵Mas cov thawj rog yuav has rua cov pejxeem tas, “Leejtwg ua tau tsev tshab tassws tseed tsw tau ua kevcai xyeem lub tsev hov? Mas ca tug hov rov qaab moog tsev ntshai tsaam nwg tsua tuag huv tshaav rog tes lwm tug yuav ua kevcai xyeem nwg lub tsev. ⁶Hab leejtwg cog vaaj txwv maab tassws tseed tsw tau noj cov txwv maab hov? Mas ca tug hov rov qaab moog tsev ntshai tsaam nwg tsua tuag huv tshaav rog lawm tes lwm tug yuav noj nwg cov txwv maab. ⁷Hab leejtwg qhab tau quaspuj ca lawm tassws tseed tsw tau yuav? Mas ca tug hov rov qaab moog tsev ntshai tsaam nwg tsua tuag huv tshaav rog tes lwm tug tsua yuav lawm.” ⁸Cov thawj rog yuav has dua rua cov pejxeem tas, “Muaj leejtwg ntshai hab sab yau? Ca nwg rov qaab moog tsev ntshai tsaam nwg tej phoojywg sab tsua yaaj taag yaam le nwg.” ⁹Thaus cov thawj rog has rua cov pejxeem taag lawd mas yuav tsaa dua ib cov thawj kaav tej paab tub rog.
¹⁰Thaus mej moog ze lub moos kws mej yuav ua rog hov mas mej yuav xub tshaaj xuv sws raug zoo ua ntej. ¹¹Yog puab teb lu lug nrug mej sws raug zoo hab qheb rooj loog rua mej, tes mej ca le yuam cov tuabneeg kws mej ntswb huv lub moos hov ua num rua mej ua koom rua mej. ¹²Tassws yog puab tsw yeem nrug mej sws raug zoo ca le ua rog rua mej, tes mej ca le vej nkaus ntaus lub moos hov. ¹³Thaus mej tug Vaajtswv Yawmsaub muab lub moos hov rua huv mej txhais teg lawd, mej ca le xuas ntaaj tua txhua tug txwvneej huvsw pov tseg. ¹⁴Tassws cov quaspuj hab cov mivnyuas hab tej tsaj txhu hab ib puas tsaav yaam huv lub moos hov kws mej txeeb tau huvsw mej ca le coj lug ua mej tug. Mej yuav swv tej kws mej txeeb tau ntawm mej cov yeeb ncuab lug kws mej tug Vaajtswv Yawmsaub pub rua mej. ¹⁵Mej yuav tsum ua le nuav rua txhua lub moos kws nyob deb mej kws tsw yog lwm haiv tuabneeg tej moos kws nyob ze ze nuav. ¹⁶Tassws lwm haiv tuabneeg tej moos kws mej tug Vaajtswv Yawmsaub muab pub ua qub txeeg qub teg rua mej mas mej tsw xob tseg ib txujsa daabtsw kws ua paa tau hlo le. ¹⁷Ca le muab ua kuas puam tsuaj tu noob nrho, yog cov Hithai, cov Amaulai, cov Khana‑aa, cov Pelixai, cov Hivai, hab cov Yenpu, lawv le mej tug Vaajtswv Yawmsaub has kuas mej ua, ¹⁸sub puab txhad tsw qha mej ua tej kev qas vuab tsuab kws puab ua koom rua puab tej daab, mej txhad tsw ua txhum rua Yawmsaub kws yog mej tug Vaajtswv.
¹⁹Thaus mej vej lub moos twg ntev hab ua rog txeeb lub moos hov, tsw xob xuas taus ntuv tej ntoo ntawm lub moos hov, tsua qhov mej yuav noj tej txwv ntoo hov mas tsw xob muab ntuv. Tej ntoo hov tsw yog tuabneeg kws mej yuav vej ua rog rua. ²⁰Tsuas yog ntuv tej ntoo kws mej paub tas noj tsw tau pov tseg xwb, hab coj lug swv tib chaw vej lub moos kws nrug mej ua rog, moog txug thaus lub moos hov tawg.