You will attack every strong city and every good city. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all the springs of water. You will ruin every good field with the stones {that you throw at it}.”
Deuteronomy 20:19 - Easy To Read Version “When you are making war against a city, you might surround that city for a long time. You must not cut down the fruit trees around that city. You may eat the fruit from these trees, but you must not cut them down. These trees are not the enemy, so don’t make war against them! Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege: Amplified Bible - Classic Edition When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by using an ax on them, for you can eat their fruit; you must not cut them down, for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? American Standard Version (1901) When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? Common English Bible 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? Catholic Public Domain Version When you will have besieged a city for a long time, and you will have encircled it with fortifications, so that you may fight against it, you shall not cut down trees from which one is able to eat, neither shall you cause devastation with axes to the surrounding region. For it is a tree, and not a man. It is not able to increase the number of those who are fighting against you. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version 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. |
You will attack every strong city and every good city. You will cut down every good tree. You will stop up all the springs of water. You will ruin every good field with the stones {that you throw at it}.”
The Israelites destroyed the cities. They threw their stones [21] at every good field in Moab. They stopped up all the springs of water. And they cut down all the good trees. The Israelites fought all the way to Kir Hareseth. The soldiers surrounded Kir Hareseth and attacked it, too!
This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:\par “Cut down the trees around Jerusalem.\par And build a siege mound {\cf2\super [40]} against it.\par This city should be punished.\par Inside this city is nothing but oppression.\par
Jesus saw a fig tree beside the road. Jesus went to the fig tree \{to get a fig to eat\}. But there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again have fruit!” And then the tree dried up and died.
The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. {\cf2\super [40]} Every tree that does not make good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Why? Because then they won’t be able teach you to sin against the Lord your God. They will not be able to teach you to do any of the terrible things they do when they worship their gods.
But you may cut down the trees that you know are not fruit trees. You may use these trees to build weapons for making war against that city. You may use them until the city falls.
The Egyptians treated us badly. They made us slaves. They hurt us and forced us to work very hard.