When thou hast besieged a city by long time, and thou hast compassed it with strongholds that thou overcome it, thou shalt not cut down the trees, of which men may eat/of which fruit may be eaten, neither thou shalt waste the country(side) about with axes; for it is a tree, and not a man, neither it may increase the number of fighters against thee. (When thou hast besieged a city for a long time, and thou hast surrounded it with strongholds so that thou can overcome it, thou shalt not cut down the trees, from which men can eat or whose fruit can be eaten, nor shalt thou destroy all the countryside about with axes; for it is a tree, and not a man, and it cannot increase the number of fighters against thee.)