Indeed! Topheth has been ready for the king for a long time. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of burning sulphur, kindles it.
‘At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships. He will invade countries and sweep through them like a flood.
The Lord will send against you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you do until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning me.
Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against his people. He raised his hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like rubbish in the streets. In all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still raised to strike.
Lord, your hand is lifted up to take action, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame. Let fire consume your adversaries.
His rock will pass away because of fear, and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag. This is the Lord’s declaration #– #whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
So you will be a disgrace and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations around you when I execute judgements against you in anger, wrath, and furious rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken.
‘ “This is what the Lord God says: Are you the one I spoke about in former times through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who for years prophesied in those times that I would bring you against them?
Indeed, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. There is no standing corn; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it did, foreigners would swallow it up.
Are you angry at the rivers, Lord? Is your wrath against the rivers? Or is your fury against the sea when you ride on your horses, your victorious chariot?
And the Lord will make the splendour of his voice heard and reveal his arm striking in angry wrath and a flame of consuming fire, in driving rain, a torrent, and hailstones.
A river of fire was flowing, coming out from his presence. Thousands upon thousands served him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.