All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
- BSB All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
- ESV All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
- NKJV All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
- NASB All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
- NLT The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Before God, all nations are as nothing, regarded as less than nothing and emptiness.
Overview
The smallness of the nations (v.15) is intensified: collectively they amount to less than nothing in God's sight. Earthly power, however imposing, has no weight against the Almighty. For God's people this is comfort, since no nation can thwart His saving purposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
- Dan 4:34–35And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
- Isa 29:7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
- 2 Cor 12:11I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
- Job 25:6How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 40:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.