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Za ku Nkhondo

20 Pamene mukupita kokachita nkhondo ndi adani anu, mukaona akavalo kapena magaleta kapena gulu la ankhondo kuposa inuyo musamaope chifukwa Yehova Mulungu wanu, amene anakutulutsani ku Igupto adzakhala nanu. Pamene mwatsala pangʼono kuyamba nkhondo, wansembe azibwera kutsogolo ndipo aziyankhula ku gulu lonse lankhondolo. Iye aziti, “Tamverani inu Aisraeli, mukupita kukachita nkhondo ndi adani anu lero. Musataye mitima kapena kuchita mantha ayi. Musaopsedwe kapena kunjenjemera pamaso pawo, pakuti Yehova Mulungu wanu ndiye amene apite nanu kukakumenyerani nkhondo ndi kugonjetsa adani anu.”

Akuluakulu ankhondo adzati kwa gulu la ankhondolo, “Kodi pali wina amene wangomanga nyumba kumene ndipo sanayitsekulire? Ayambe wapita ku mudzi chifukwa mwina akafera ku nkhondoko ndipo wina ndi kudzayitsekulira. Kodi pali wina amene analima munda wamphesa ndipo sanayambe kudyerera? Ayambe wapita ku mudzi chifukwa mwina akafera ku nkhondo ndipo wina adzadyerera mundawo. Kodi pali amene wachita chinkhoswe ndi mkazi ndipo sanamukwatire mkaziyo? Ayambe wabwerera ku mudzi chifukwa mwina akafera ku nkhondo ndipo wina adzakwatira mkaziyo.” Ndipo akuluakulu ankhondowo akapitirize kuti, “Kodi pali amene akuchita mantha kapena kutaya mtima? Abwerere ku mudzi kuopa kuti abale ake angatayenso mtima.” Akuluakuluwo akatsiriza kuyankhula ndi gulu la ankhondolo, adzasankhe olilamulira.

10 Pamene mukuyandikira kuphwanya mzinda, muyambe mwafunsa anthu a mu mzindawo ngati afuna zamtendere. 11 Akavomera natsekula zipata zawo, anthu wonse mu mzindawo adzagwidwa ukapolo nakugwirirani ntchito. 12 Koma akakana za mtendere nachita nanu nkhondo, muwuphwanye mzindawo. 13 Yehova Mulungu wanu akakupatsani mzindawo, muwaphe amuna onse. 14 Akazi, ana, ziweto ndi china chilichonse mu mzindamo, mukhoza kuzitenga kuti zikhale zanu monga katundu wolanda ku nkhondo. Katundu wa adani anuyu amene Yehova Mulungu wanu akukupatsani, mukhoza kumugwiritsa ntchito. 15 Mizinda yonse yakutali osati ya mitundu yapafupi, muzichita nayo chomwechi.

16 Komabe mʼmizinda imene Yehova Mulungu wanu akukupatsani ngati cholowa chanu, musasiyemo chamoyo chilichonse. 17 Muwawononge kwathunthu Ahiti, Aamori, Akanaani, Aperezi, Ahivi ndi Ayebusi monga momwe Yehova Mulungu wanu anakulamulirani. 18 Mukapanda kutero adzakuphunzitsani kuti mutengere zinthu zonyansa zimene amachita popembedza milungu yawo ndipo mudzachimwira Yehova Mulungu wanu.

19 Mukalimbana ndi mzinda nthawi yayitali, kuchita nawo nkhondo pofuna kuwugonjetsa, musawononge podula mitengo yake ndi nkhwangwa, osayidula chifukwa zipatso zakezo mukhoza kudya. Kodi mitengo ya ku munda ndi anthu kuti mukalimbane nayo? 20 Komabe mukhoza kudula mitengo imene mukudziwa kuti si ya zipatso ndi kuyigwiritsa ntchito pa nkhondo mpaka mzinda umene mukumenyana nawowo utagwetsedwa.

Going to War

20 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours,(A) do not be afraid(B) of them,(C) because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with(D) you. When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted(E) or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you(F) to fight(G) for you against your enemies to give you victory.(H)

The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not yet begun to live in(I) it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may begin to live in it. Has anyone planted(J) a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it?(K) Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.(L) Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.”(M) When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.

10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.(N) 11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject(O) to forced labor(P) and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.(Q) 14 As for the women, the children, the livestock(R) and everything else in the city,(S) you may take these as plunder(T) for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance(U) from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.(V) 17 Completely destroy[a] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods,(W) and you will sin(X) against the Lord your God.

19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?[b] 20 However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees(Y) and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 20:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  2. Deuteronomy 20:19 Or down to use in the siege, for the fruit trees are for the benefit of people.