Isaiah 40:15 (ASV)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

Isaiah 40:14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?

Isaiah 40:15 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.

Isaiah 40:16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.

Isaiah 40:17 All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "nations", "drop", "bucket", "accounted", "small", "dust", and "balance". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "nations", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "With whom took he counsel and who..." into verse 16's "And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn...", so "behold" and "nations" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "behold" and "nations" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.