Deuteronomy 20:17-19

International Children’s Bible

¹⁷ Completely destroy these people: the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. ¹⁸ Otherwise, they will teach you what they do for their gods. And if you do these terrible things, you will sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹ You might surround and attack a city for a long time, trying to capture it. But do not destroy its trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit from the trees. Do not cut them down. These trees are not the enemy. So don’t make war against them.