Isaiah 33:11

33:11 You conceive straw, ¹ 

you give birth to chaff;

your breath is a fire that destroys you. ² 

Isaiah 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ³  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ⁴ 

[33:11]  ¹ tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.

[33:11]  ² sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.

[47:14]  ³ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.