Psalms 83:14

¹² who said, “Let us possess for ourselves the pastures of God.”

¹³ Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind.

As fire consumes a forest, as a flame sets the mountains ablaze,

¹⁵ so pursue them with Your tempest, and terrify them with Your storm.

¹⁶ Cover their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: As fire consumes a forest, as a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
KJV: As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
WEB: As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire,
ASV: As the fire that burneth the forest, And as the flame that setteth the mountains on fire,
DARBY: As fire burneth a forest, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire,
BLB: As the fire burns a forest, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire,

ÅB: Som en ild som tenner en skog, og som en flamme som setter fjell i brann,
OTB: Som en ild som fortærer skogen,
Og som en flamme som antenner fjellene,
B1930: Som en ild som tender en skog, og som en lue som setter fjell i brand,

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Deuteronomy 32:22
For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
Read in context
Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
Read in context
Isaiah 9:18
For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets which roll upward in billows of smoke.
Read in context
Nahum 1:6
Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.
Read in context
Isaiah 30:33
For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
Read in context
Nahum 1:10
For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard— like stubble that is fully dry.
Read in context
Isaiah 64:1–2
If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
Read in context
Isaiah 33:11–12
You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you.
Read in context