In Context

15 So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in possession.

16 But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer none at all to live:

17 But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

18 Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have done to their gods: and you should sin against the Lord your God.

19 When thou hast besieged a city a long time, and hath compassed it with bulwarks to take it, thou shalt not cut down the trees that may be eaten of, neither shalt thou spoil the country round about with axes: for it is a tree, and not a man, neither can it increase the number of them that fight against thee.

20 But if there be any trees that are not fruitful, but wild, and fit for other uses, cut them down, and make engines, until thou take the city, which fighteth against thee.

Deuteronomy 20:18 in Other Translations