So my anger and my wrath were poured out and burned like a fire through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they have become the desolate ruins that they are today.’

ל (Lamed) Is it nothing to you, ¹  all you who pass by on the road? ²  Look and see! Is there any pain like mine? The Lord ³  has afflicted me, ⁴  he ⁵  has inflicted it on me when ⁶  he burned with anger. ⁷ 

No! ¹  It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything?

Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

“I will punish her for the festival days when she burned incense to the Baal idols; ¹  she adorned herself with earrings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but ²  she forgot me!” ³  says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says: “Because Moab has committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime. ⁴ 

The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp ¹  and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up, ² 

The Philistines asked, ¹  “Who did this?” They were told, ²  “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite ³  took Samson’s ⁴  bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. ⁵ 

Even before they burned the fat, the priest’s attendant would come and say to the person who was making the sacrifice, “Hand over some meat for the priest to roast! He won’t take boiled meat from you, but only raw.” ¹ 

With the authority of the Lord ¹  he cried out against the altar, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” ² 

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, ¹  and the guards ²  to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of ³  Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. ⁴  The king ⁵  burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces ⁶  of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁷ 

He removed from the entrance to the Lord’s temple the statues of horses ¹  that the kings of Judah had placed there in honor of the sun god. (They were kept near the room of Nathan Melech the eunuch, which was situated among the courtyards.) ²  He burned up the chariots devoted to the sun god. ³ 

He also tore down the altar in Bethel ¹  at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. ²  He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. ³ 

While this one was still speaking, ¹  another messenger arrived ²  and said, “The fire of God ³  has fallen from heaven ⁴  and has burned up the sheep and the servants – it has consumed them! And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: ‘I burned half of it in the fire – yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’ ¹ 

As soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns ¹  of the scroll, the king ²  would cut them off with a penknife ³  and throw them on the fire in the firepot. He kept doing so until the whole scroll was burned up in the fire. ⁴ 

Tell King Jehoiakim of Judah, ‘The Lord says, “You burned the scroll. You asked ¹  Jeremiah, ‘How dare you write in this scroll that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and wipe out all the people and animals on it?’” ² 

Then Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on this scroll everything that had been on the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned in the fire. They also added on this scroll several other messages of the same kind. ¹ 

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, ¹  says, ‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared ²  and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared.

The Lord says, ¹  “Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon! ²  You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth. I will unleash my power against you; ³  I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain. ⁴