The War Scroll

1 And the men of the rule shall be from forty years old to fifty. And those who order the camps shall be from fifty years old to sixty. And the officers

2 shall be, they also, from forty years old to fifty. And all who strip the slain, and who take the spoil, and who cleanse the land, and who guard the equipment,

3 and he who prepares the provisions — all of them shall be from twenty-five years old to thirty. And no young boy and no woman shall come into their camps, from when they go out

4 from Jerusalem to go to the war until they return. And no lame man, or blind, or crippled, nor a man with a permanent blemish in his flesh, nor a man afflicted with an uncleanness of

5 his flesh — none of these shall go with them to the war. All of them shall be men who freely offer themselves for war, perfect in spirit and in flesh, and ready for the day of vengeance. And any

6 man who is not clean of his issue on the day of battle shall not go down with them, for holy angels are together with their hosts. And there shall be a space

7 between all their camps and the place of the privy, about two thousand cubits; and no shameful nakedness of anything evil shall be seen round about all their camps. [blank]

9 And when the battle-lines of the war are arrayed against the enemy, battle-line facing battle-line, there shall go out from the middle gate to between the battle-lines seven

10 priests of the sons of Aaron, clothed in garments of white fine linen — a linen tunic and linen breeches — and girded with a linen sash of twined fine linen, blue

11 and purple and scarlet, and a figure of embroidery, the work of a designer; and turbans of a headdress upon their heads. These are garments of war, and into the sanctuary they shall not

12 bring them. The one priest shall walk before all the men of the battle-line, to strengthen their hands in the war. And in the hand of the six shall be

13 the trumpets of summoning, and the trumpets of memorial, and the trumpets of the war-shout, and the trumpets of pursuit, and the trumpets of assembly. And when the priests go out

14 to between the battle-lines, seven Levites shall go out with them, and in their hand seven rams' horns of jubilee; and three officers from among the Levites before

15 the priests and the Levites. And the priests shall blow on the two trumpets of summ[oning … w]ar, over fifty shields;

16 and fifty skirmishers shall go out from the one gate, and [ … ] Levites, officers. And with

17 each and every battle-line they shall go out according to the whole ru[le … the ]skirmishers from the gates,

18 [and they shall sta]nd between the two battle-lines, and [ … ] the wa[r].