Deuteronomy 20:18-20

New International Reader's Version

¹⁸ If you don’t destroy them, they’ll teach you to do all the things the Lord hates. He hates the way they worship their gods. If you do those things, you will sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹ Suppose you surround a city and get ready to attack it. And suppose you fight against it for a long time in order to capture it. Then don’t chop down its trees and destroy them. You can eat their fruit. So don’t cut them down. Are the trees people? So why should you attack them? ²⁰ But you can cut down trees that you know aren’t fruit trees. You can build war machines out of their wood. You can use them until you capture the city you are fighting against.