Deuteronomy 20:19-20

New Living Translation

¹⁹“When you are attacking a town and the war drags on, you must not cut down the trees with your axes. You may eat the fruit, but do not cut down the trees. Are the trees your enemies, that you should attack them? ²⁰You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.

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Deuteronomy 20:19-20

New American Standard Bible

¹⁹“When you besiege a city for a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, so you shall not cut them down. For ^[a]is the tree of the field a human, that it should ^[b]be besieged by you? ²⁰Only the trees that you know ^[c]are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, so that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war against you until it falls.

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Footnotes

Deuteronomy 20:19 Read as interrogative with ancient versions; MT the tree of the field is man
Deuteronomy 20:19 Lit come before you in the siege
Deuteronomy 20:20 Lit that it is not a tree of food

Deuteronomy 20:19-20

New International Version

¹⁹When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?^[a] ²⁰However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees^(A) and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

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