²⁴ Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected^(A)
the instruction of the Lord of Armies,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.^(B)

¹⁸ For wickedness burns like a fire^(A)
that consumes thorns and briars
and kindles the forest thickets
so that they go up in a column of smoke.
¹⁹ The land is scorched
by the wrath of the Lord of Armies,
and the people are like fuel for the fire.^(B)
No one has compassion on his brother.^(C)