Fire and brimstone

Generally used figuratively these days to describe any fiery or incendiary speech and this usage dates from the late 18th/early 19th century. The origin of course is the Bible where it describes the wrath or punishment of God and its first appearance is Genesis 19:24, “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire.” Thereafter, it appears throughout the Old and New Testament to describe the same phenomenon. Brimstone since the 1400s was the old word for sulphur (from the Old English bryne meaning burn + stone) which of course is highly inflammable.