NET Bible
"so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship their gods, causing you to sin against the LORD your God."
— Deuteronomy 20:18, NET Bible
“That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.”
“that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so would ye sin against Jehovah your God. ”
“that they not teach you to do after all their abominations, which they have done to their gods; so would you sin against Yahweh your God.”
“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.”
“So that you may not take them as your example and do all the disgusting things which they do in the worship of their gods, so sinning against the Lord your God.”
“That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.”
This is how you are to deal with all those cities located far from you, those that do not belong to these nearby nations.
Laws Concerning War with Canaanite Nations As for the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing to survive.
Instead you must utterly annihilate them– the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites– just as the LORD your God has commanded you,
so that they cannot teach you all the abhorrent ways they worship their gods, causing you to sin against the LORD your God.
If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, you must not chop down its trees, for you may eat fruit from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it!
However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, and you may use it to build siege works against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.