化干戈为玉帛意思是消除仇怨，变战争为和平，变冲突为友好。“干”“戈”是用于防御和进攻的两种武器（two weapons of war which were used for defense and attack respectively），借指战争、武力冲突；“玉”“帛”指玉器和束帛，是古代诸侯会盟、诸侯与天子朝聘时互赠的礼物（jades and silks which were gifts exchanged between feudal lords and tribute paid to monarchs），后来用于表示和平共处之意。

这句话可以翻译为eliminate animosity in order to turn war into peace and turn conflicts into amity。

例句：

上天降灾，使我两君匪以玉帛相见，而以兴戎。

Heaven has struck disaster, bringing our two sovereign lords to face each other, not with jades and silks, but with the instruments of war.