“When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can get food from them. You must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human, to come under siege by you?

You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with oil, because your olives will drop off.

Whirring insects will take possession of all your trees and your land’s produce.

But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce food. You may cut them down to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.