Moses gives Israel marching orders

“Whenever you capture towns in the land the LORD your God is giving you, be sure to kill all the people and animals.
“When you are attacking a town, don’t chop down its fruit trees, not even if you have had the town surrounded for a long time. Fruit trees aren’t your enemies, and they produce food that you can eat, so don’t cut them down. 20 You may need wood to make ladders and towers to help you get over the walls and capture the town. But use only trees that you know are not fruit trees.
“If you allow them to live, they will persuade you to worship their disgusting gods, and you will be unfaithful to the LORD.
“The LORD helped the army of Judah capture Gaza, Ashkelon, Elron, and the land near those towns. They also took the hill country. But
“The Asher tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites …and the Asher tribe lived with Canaanites all around them…
“…and even set up the pole for Asherah there. Manasseh practiced magic and witchcraft; he asked fortunetellers for advice and sacrificed his own son. He did many sinful things and made the LORD very angry.”

Excerpted from Deut. 20:16, 19-20, 18; Judges 1:19, 32; 2 Kings 21:6
Contemporary English Version (CEV)