Deuteronomy 20:17-19

Common English Bible

¹⁷ Instead, you must place these under the ban:^[a] Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—just as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹⁸ Then they can’t teach you to do all the detestable things they did for their gods, with the result that you end up sinning against the Lord your God.

¹⁹ Now if you have been attacking a city for some time, fighting against it and trying to conquer it, don’t destroy its trees by cutting them down with axes. You can eat from those trees; don’t cut them down! Do you think a tree of the field is some sort of warrior to be attacked by you in battle?