| 1 Cuando salgas a la guerra contra tus enemigos y veas caballos y carros y un pueblo más numeroso que tú, no los temas, porque está contigo el Señor, tu Dios, que te hizo subir de la tierra de Egipto. | 1 “If you go out to battle against your enemies, and you see horsemen and chariots, and that the multitude of your adversary’s army is greater than your own, you shall not fear them. For the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, is with you. |
| 2 Cuando vayáis a entablar combate, se adelantará el sacerdote para hablar al pueblo. | 2 Then, as the battle now draws near, the priest shall stand before the front ranks, and he shall speak to the people in this manner: |
| 3 Les dirá: “Escucha, Israel: vosotros vais a entablar hoy combate contra vuestros enemigos. No perdáis el valor, no temáis ni os turbéis, ni tembléis ante ellos, | 3 ‘Listen, O Israel! Today you engage in a battle against your enemies. Do not let your heart be overwhelmed with fear. Do not be apprehensive. Do not yield. You should have no dread of them. |
| 4 porque el Señor, vuestro Dios, marcha con vosotros, combatiendo en favor vuestro contra vuestros enemigos, para salvaros”. | 4 For the Lord your God is in your midst, and he will contend against your enemies on your behalf, so that he may rescue you from peril.’ |
| 5 Luego los magistrados hablarán así al pueblo: “¿Quién ha edificado una casa nueva y no la ha estrenado? Que se retire y vuelva a su casa, no sea que muera en el combate y la estrene otro. | 5 Likewise, the officers shall proclaim, throughout every company, in the hearing of the soldiers: ‘What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in the battle, and another man may dedicate it. |
| 6 Y ¿quién ha plantado una viña y no la ha vendimiado? Que se retire y vuelva a su casa, no sea que muera en el combate y la vendimie otro. | 6 What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not yet caused it to be common, so that all may eat from it? Let him go, and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in the battle, and another man may carry out his office. |
| 7 Y ¿quién está prometido con una mujer y aún no se ha casado con ella? Que se retire y vuelva a su casa, no sea que muera en el combate, y otro se case con ella”. | 7 What man is there, who has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go, and return to his house, lest perhaps he may die in battle, and another man may take her.’ |
| 8 Después los magistrados volverán a hablar al pueblo y dirán: “¿Quién tiene miedo y no tiene valor? Que se retire y vuelva a su casa, para que su hermano no pierda el valor como él”. | 8 After these things have been declared, they shall add the remainder, and shall say to the people: ‘What man is there who is overwhelmed by fear and is fainthearted? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he cause the hearts of his brothers to fear, just as he himself has been thoroughly stricken with fear.’ |
| 9 Cuando los magistrados hayan terminado de hablar al pueblo, pondrán jefes de tropa al frente de él. | 9 And when the officers of the army have become silent, and have completed their speech, each one shall prepare his unit to wage war. |
| 10 Cuando te acerques a una ciudad para combatir contra ella, primero proponle la paz. | 10 When, at any time, you approach a city to fight against it, you shall first offer peace to it. |
| 11 Si acepta la paz y te abre sus puertas, toda la población que se encuentre en ella se someterá a prestación personal y te servirá. | 11 If they receive it, and open the gates to you, then all the people who are in it shall be saved, and they shall serve you by paying tribute. |
| 12 Pero si no acepta tu paz y te declara la guerra, la sitiarás. | 12 But if they are not willing to enter into an agreement, and they begin to act against you in warfare, then you shall besiege it. |
| 13 El Señor, tu Dios, la entregará en tus manos y pasarás a filo de espada a todos sus varones. | 13 And when the Lord your God will have delivered it into your hands, you shall strike down anyone who is in it, of the male gender, with the edge of the sword, |
| 14 Pero las mujeres, los niños, el ganado y todo lo que haya en la ciudad —todo su botín— lo tomarás para ti y comerás del botín de los enemigos que te entregue el Señor, tu Dios. | 14 but not the women and young children, nor the cattle and the other things that are within the city. And you shall divide all the plunder to the soldiers, and you shall eat the spoils from your enemies, which the Lord your God will give to you. |
| 15 Lo mismo harás con todas las ciudades muy alejadas de ti que no están entre las ciudades de esas naciones. | 15 So shall you do to all the cities which are at a great distance from you, those which are not among the cities that you shall receive as a possession. |
| 16 Mas de las ciudades de estos pueblos que te entregue en herencia el Señor, tu Dios, no dejarás ni un ser vivo. | 16 But among those cities which shall be given to you, you shall not permit anyone at all to live. |
| 17 Consagrarás al exterminio a hititas, amorreos, cananeos, perizitas, heveos y jebuseos, como te mandó el Señor, tu Dios, | 17 Instead, you shall put them to death with the edge of the sword, specifically: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. |
| 18 para que no os enseñen a cometer todas las abominaciones que ellos cometen con sus dioses, y no pequéis contra el Señor, vuestro Dios. | 18 Otherwise, they may teach you to do all the abominations which they have committed for their own gods. And then you would sin against the Lord your God. |
| 19 Cuando sities una ciudad durante mucho tiempo, combatiendo contra ella para tomarla, no destruyas sus árboles blandiendo el hacha sobre ellos, porque de ellos podrás comer; no los tales, porque ¿acaso son seres humanos los árboles del campo para que hayan de ser sitiados por ti? | 19 When you will have besieged a city for a long time, and you will have encircled it with fortifications, so that you may fight against it, you shall not cut down trees from which one is able to eat, neither shall you cause devastation with axes to the surrounding region. For it is a tree, and not a man. It is not able to increase the number of those who are fighting against you. |
| 20 Pero si sabes que un árbol no es frutal, lo puedes destruir y talar, para construir obras de asedio contra la ciudad que te hace la guerra, hasta que caiga. | 20 But if there are any trees which are not fruitful, but are wild, and if these are fit for other uses, then cut them down, and make machines, until you have captured the city that is contending against you.” |
