Literature: This verse opens the third stanza, focusing again on the people.
Scripture: The image of burning is both literal and symbolic. Burning could accompany ancient warfare as a tactic of destruction of sustenance and pride of place. There were many more flammable buildings in the ancient world than inflammable ones, and fires could run rampant through cities.
Isaiah repeats his prophecy that the land will be devastated (2 Ne. 15:9–10, 7:23). However, burning can also purify, hence, be seen as an instrument of renewal and, in relation to the land, as a mode of replenishing the soil. (See commentary accompanying 2 Nephi 15:24.) Therefore, while the image is one of destruction, it includes a place for eventual redemption.