Isaiah 40:15
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales. He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
Additional Resources
Other Translations
King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
KJV1611 – Modern English
Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the islands as a very little thing.
King James Version 1611 (Original)
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers
Behold, the nations{H1471} are as a drop{H4752} of a bucket,{H1805} and are accounted{H2803} as the small dust{H7834} of the balance:{H3976} Behold, he taketh up{H5190} the isles{H339} as a very little thing.{H1851}
King James Version with Strong's Numbers
Behold, the nations{H1471} are as a drop{H4752} of a bucket{H1805}, and are counted{H2803}{(H8738)} as the small dust{H7834} of the balance{H3976}: behold, he taketh up{H5190}{(H8799)} the isles{H339} as a very little thing{H1851}.
Coverdale Bible (1535)
Beholde, all people are in coparison of him, as a droppe to a bucketfull, and are counted as the leest thinge yt the balaunce weyeth. Beholde, ye Iles are in comparison of him, as the shadowe of the Sonne beame.
Geneva Bible (1560)
Beholde, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the dust of the balance: beholde, he taketh away the yles as a litle dust.
Bishops' Bible (1568)
Beholde, all people are in comparison of hym as a droppe of a bucket full, and are counted as the least thyng that the ballaunce wayeth: yea and the Isles he taketh vp as a very litle thyng.
Authorized King James Version (1611)
Behold, the nations [are] as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Webster's Bible (1833)
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing.
Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)
Lo, nations as a drop from a bucket, And as small dust of the balance, have been reckoned, Lo, isles as a small thing He taketh up.
American Standard Version (1901)
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
American Standard Version (1901)
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Bible in Basic English (1941)
See, the nations are to him like a drop hanging from a bucket, and like the small dust in the scales: he takes up the islands like small dust.
World English Bible (2000)
Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
NET Bible® (New English Translation)
Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales. He lifts the coastlands as if they were dust.
Referenced Verses
- Isa 40:22 : 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
- Jer 10:10 : 10 But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King. When He is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure His wrath.
- Dan 11:18 : 18 Then he will turn his attention to the coastlands and will capture many. However, a commander will put an end to his arrogance and will repay him for his scorn.
- Zeph 2:11 : 11 The Lord will be awesome to them when He destroys all the gods of the earth. People from every shore and nation will bow down to Him, each from their own place.
- Job 34:14-15 : 14 If He were to set His heart to it and gather to Himself His spirit and breath, 15 all flesh would perish together, and mankind would return to dust.
- Isa 11:11 : 11 In that day, the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant of his people who are left from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the islands of the sea.
- Isa 29:5 : 5 But the horde of your enemies will be like fine dust, and the horde of the ruthless ones will be like blowing chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,
- Isa 41:5 : 5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble. They draw near and come forward.
- Isa 59:18 : 18 According to their deeds, He will repay: wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies, and repayment to the distant coastlands.
- Isa 66:19 : 19 I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of the survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud (those who draw the bow), to Tubal and Javan, and to the distant coastlands that have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. And they will proclaim My glory among the nations.
- Gen 10:5 : 5 From these, the coastland peoples spread out into their lands, each according to his language, family, and nation.
Similar Verses (AI)
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
- Isa 40:16-183 verses80%
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before Him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing.
18 To whom, then, will you compare God? What image can you find to resemble Him?
- 77%
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
- Isa 40:22-232 verses71%
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
- 71%
15 Look, I have made you small among the nations, despised among mankind.
- 69%
25 When He gave weight to the wind and measured the waters by measure,
- Isa 17:12-132 verses69%
12 Woe to the multitude of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas, and the rushing of nations that is like the rushing of mighty waters.
13 The nations roar like the crashing of mighty waters, but He rebukes them, and they flee far away. They are driven like chaff on the mountains before the wind, like tumbleweed before a storm.
- 69%
14 Whom did He consult, and who gave Him understanding? Who taught Him the path of justice, or showed Him knowledge, or instructed Him in the way of understanding?
- 68%
28 His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He will sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and place a bridle in the jaws of the peoples, leading them astray.
- 68%
6 He stood and shook the earth; He looked and startled the nations. The ancient mountains crumbled; the everlasting hills sank low. His ways are eternal.
- 68%
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
- 68%
13 Is it not from the LORD of Hosts that peoples labor for fire and nations grow weary for nothing?
- 68%
27 For He draws up the drops of water; they distill as rain into His mist.
- 68%
1 Be silent before me, you coastlands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them approach and speak; let us come together for judgment.
- 68%
26 He lifts a banner for the nations far away and whistles for them from the ends of the earth. Look! They come swiftly and speedily.
- 68%
5 But the horde of your enemies will be like fine dust, and the horde of the ruthless ones will be like blowing chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,
- 67%
1 This is the Lord’s message concerning Israel. The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit within humans, declares this:
- 67%
9 For behold, I am giving the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes a sieve, but not a single pebble shall fall to the ground.
- 67%
22 The least of you will become a thousand, and the smallest one a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.
- 67%
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble. They draw near and come forward.
- 67%
11 Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord; all the weights in the bag are His making.
- 67%
9 Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. Selah.
- 67%
16 The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
- 67%
1 Come near, O nations, to listen; and pay attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all its inhabitants.
- 66%
10 Go across to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this.
- 66%
15 He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
- 66%
1 Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants.
- 66%
23 He makes nations great and then destroys them; He enlarges nations and guides them away.
- 66%
4 He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice on the earth, and the coastlands wait for his law.
- Isa 18:2-32 verses66%
2 A land that sends envoys over the sea in papyrus vessels, gliding on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, a people feared far and wide, a mighty and conquering nation divided by rivers.
3 All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it; when the trumpet sounds, you will hear it.
- 66%
11 The Lord will be awesome to them when He destroys all the gods of the earth. People from every shore and nation will bow down to Him, each from their own place.
- 66%
15 "If He holds back the waters, they dry up; if He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth."
- 66%
43 I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth; I crushed them and trampled them like mud in the streets.
- 66%
17 Isn’t it yet a very little while before Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field considered as a forest?
- 66%
10 Hear the word of the LORD, you nations; declare it in the distant coastlands and say: He who scattered Israel will gather them and watch over them like a shepherd cares for his flock.
- 66%
14 Behold, these are but the edges of his ways, and how faint is the whisper we hear of him! But the thunder of his power—who can understand?
- 66%
10 For who has despised the day of small beginnings? These seven rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the LORD roaming throughout the whole earth.
- 66%
17 Is this why they empty their net and continually slay nations without mercy?
- 66%
5 Look among the nations and observe—be utterly amazed! For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.
- 66%
2 Behold, I have made you small among the nations; you are utterly despised.
- 66%
42 They cry for help, but there is no one to save them—to the LORD, but He does not answer.
- 66%
12 For any nation or kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations will be utterly ruined.
- 66%
26 This is the plan determined for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.
- 66%
16 Those who see you will stare at you; they will contemplate you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble and shook the kingdoms?'
- 66%
9 Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.