Deuteronomy 20:19-20
Expanded Bible
19 If you ·surround [besiege] and attack a city for ·a long time [L many days], trying to capture it, do not destroy its trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit from the trees, but do not cut them down. ·These trees are not the enemy, so don’t make war against them [L Are these trees of the field human that you should go against them in siege?]. 20 But you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build devices to attack the city walls, until the city is captured.
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Deuteronomy 20:19-20
Amplified Bible
19 “When you besiege a city for [a]a long time, making war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its [fruit-bearing] trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged (destroyed) by you? 20 Only the trees which you know are not [b]fruit trees shall you destroy and cut down, so that you may build [c]siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls.
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- Deuteronomy 20:19 Lit many days.
- Deuteronomy 20:20 Lit trees for eating.
- Deuteronomy 20:20 I.e. battering rams, ladders, towers, etc.
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