For ¹  evil burned like a fire, ²  it consumed thorns and briers; it burned up the thickets of the forest, and they went up in smoke. ³ 

Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, ¹  and the people became fuel for the fire. ²  People had no compassion on one another. ³ 

For this reason ¹  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ²  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ³ 

O Lord, you are ready to act, ¹  but they don’t even notice. They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ²  yes, fire will consume your enemies. ³ 

Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, ¹  accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise, by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

It shatters in pieces like a clay jar, so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ¹  Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ²  to scoop a hot coal from a fire ³  or to skim off water from a cistern.” ⁴ 

Look, the name ¹  of the Lord comes from a distant place in raging anger and awesome splendor. ²  He speaks angrily and his word is like destructive fire. ³ 

The Lord will give a mighty shout ¹  and intervene in power, ²  with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ³  with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic ¹  grips the godless. ²  They say, ³  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ⁴  fire?’

They have burned the gods of the nations, ¹  for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. ² 

When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass ¹  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm ²  you.

Half of it he burns in the fire – over that half he cooks ¹  meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says, ‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’

Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat ¹  of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. ² 

Look, I create the craftsman, who fans the coals into a fire and forges a weapon. ¹  I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

Our holy temple, our pride and joy, ¹  the place where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire; all our prized possessions have been destroyed. ² 

They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

“They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, ¹  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ²  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ³ 

I, the Lord, once called ¹  you a thriving olive tree, one that produced beautiful fruit. But I will set you ²  on fire, fire that will blaze with a mighty roar. ³  Then all your branches will be good for nothing. ⁴ 

Sometimes I think, “I will make no mention of his message. I will not speak as his messenger ¹  any more.” But then ²  his message becomes like a fire locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul. ³  I grow weary of trying to hold it in; I cannot contain it.

For I, the Lord, say that ¹  I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. ²  It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’” ³