凡此四军之利，黄帝之所以胜四帝也。
These are the four useful branches of military knowledge which enabled the Yellow Emperor to vanquish four several sovereigns.
凡军好高而恶下，贵阳而贱阴，
All armies prefer high ground to low and sunny places to dark.
养生而处实，军无百疾，是谓必胜。
If you are careful of your men, and camp on hard ground, the army will be free from disease of every kind, and this will spell victory.
丘陵堤防，必处其阳而右背之，此兵之利，地之助也。
When you come to a hill or a bank, occupy the sunny side, with the slope on your right rear. Thus you will at once act for the benefit of your soldiers and utilize the natural advantages of the ground.
上雨水流至，欲涉者，待其定也。
When, in consequence of heavy rains up-country, a river which you wish to ford is swollen and flecked with foam, you must wait until it subsides.
凡地有绝涧、天井、天牢、天罗、天陷、天隙，必亟去之，勿近也。
Country in which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural hollows, confined places, tangled thickets, quagmires and crevasses, should be left with all possible speed and not approached.
吾远之，敌近之；吾迎之，敌背之。
While we keep away from such places, we should get the enemy to approach them; while we face them, we should let the enemy have them on his rear.
军旁有险阻、潢井、蒹葭、小林、□①荟者，必谨覆索之，此伏奸之所处也。
If in the neighborhood of your camp there should be any hilly country, ponds surrounded by aquatic grass, hollow basins filled with reeds, or woods with thick undergrowth, they must be carefully routed out and searched; for these are places where men in ambush or insidious spies are likely to be lurking.
敌近而静者，恃其险也；
When the enemy is close at hand and remains quiet, he is relying on the natural strength of his position.
远而挑战者，欲人之进也；