lipu Nasin la: kasi nanpa 31 pi lipu Nasin Pona
| 夫佳兵者 |
Sharp weapons are inauspicious instruments. | |
| 物或恶之 | Everyone hates them. | |
| 故有道者不处 | Therefore the man of the Way is not comfortable with them. | |
| 君子居则贵左 | In the domestic affairs of the gentleman | |
| 用兵则贵右 | The left is the position of honor. | |
| 兵者不祥之器 | In military affairs the right is the position of honor. | |
| 非君子之器 | Since weapons are inauspicious instruments, they are not the instruments of the gentleman | |
| 不得已而用之 | So he uses them without enjoyment | |
| 恬淡为上 | And values plainness. | |
| 胜而不美 | Victory is never sweet. | |
| 而美之者 | Those for whom victory is sweet | |
| 是乐杀人 | Are those who enjoy killing. | |
| 夫乐杀人者 | If you enjoy killing, | |
| 则不可以 |
[Y]ou cannot gain the trust of the people. | |
| 吉事尚左 | On auspicious occasions the place of honor is on the left. | |
| 凶事尚右 | On inauspicious occasions the place of honor is on the right. | |
| 偏将军居左 | The lieutenant commander stands on the left. | |
| 上将军居右 | The commander-in-chief stands on the right. | |
| 言以丧礼处之 | And they speak, using the funerary rites to bury them. | |
| 杀人之众 | The common people, from whom all the dead have come | |
| 以哀悲泣之 | Weep in lamentation. | |
| 战胜以丧礼处之 | The victors bury them with funerary rites. |