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KING JAMES BIBLE · PCE

Isaiah 40:15–18

TEXT EDITION
Pure Cambridge Edition selected
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.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
¶ To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
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PASSAGE SELECTION

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4 selected · 6 available

Choose up to 10 verses in this chapter. The study tools update with the selected passage.

SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE

Cross References

19 Essential passages are open for comparison.

Reference depth

From verse 15

  1. Isaiah 40:22Rank 1 from verse 15
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    22It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

  2. Jeremiah 10:10Rank 2 from verse 15
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    10But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

  3. Job 34:14–15Rank 3 from verse 15
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    14If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;

    15All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

  4. Isaiah 11:11Rank 4 from verse 15
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    11And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

  5. Isaiah 29:5Rank 5 from verse 15
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    5Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

From verse 16

  1. Micah 6:6–7Rank 1 from verse 16
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    6¶ Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

    7Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

  2. Psalms 40:6Rank 2 from verse 16
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    6Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

  3. Psalms 50:9–12Rank 3 from verse 16
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    9I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.

    10For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

    11I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

    12If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

  4. Hebrews 10:5–10Rank 4 from verse 16
    Open

    5Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

    6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

    7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

    8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

    9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

    10By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

From verse 17

  1. Psalms 62:9Rank 1 from verse 17
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    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.

  2. Daniel 4:34–35Rank 2 from verse 17
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    34And 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:

    35And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

  3. Isaiah 29:7Rank 3 from verse 17
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    7¶ And 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.

  4. 2 Corinthians 12:11Rank 4 from verse 17
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    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.

  5. Job 25:6Rank 5 from verse 17
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    6How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

From verse 18

  1. Isaiah 46:5Rank 1 from verse 18
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    5¶ To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?

  2. 1 Samuel 2:2Rank 2 from verse 18
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    2There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

  3. Isaiah 40:25Rank 3 from verse 18
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    25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

  4. Exodus 15:11Rank 4 from verse 18
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    11Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

  5. Acts 17:29Rank 5 from verse 18
    Open

    29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

WORDS IN THIS PASSAGE

Definitions

Open a word for its full definition and concordance.

DEFINED WORDS

Isaiah 40:15

COMBINED MEANING

behold

↗

1. Used as an attention word or command directing someone to look at or take notice of the person, thing, statement, or event presented: look; see; take notice. 2. As a verb, to look upon, see, observe, or witness.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

nations

↗

Sense 1: Distinct peoples or political communities. Sense 2: The Gentile peoples as distinguished from Israel.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

drop

↗

Sense 1: A small rounded portion of liquid. Sense 2: To fall, let fall, distil, or pour in drops.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

counted

↗

Sense 1: Past tense or past participle of count: numbered or calculated. Sense 2: Past tense or past participle of count: reckoned, regarded, esteemed, or accounted as.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

small

↗

1. Little or limited in size, amount, number, extent, strength, power, rank, or importance. 2. Fine or minute; broken or ground into small particles. 3. In “no small,” considerable or great. 4. In “small cattle,” sheep and goats, as distinguished from oxen or larger cattle.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

balance

↗

A pair of scales or other weighing instrument used to determine equality or difference of weight.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

taketh

↗

Third-person singular present form of take: receives, seizes, carries, accepts, chooses, or lays hold of.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

very

↗

Sense 1: Truly, actually, exactly, or the same in identity. Sense 2: To a great or marked degree, used to intensify the quality named.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Isaiah 40:16

COMBINED MEANING

sufficient

↗

Enough, adequate, competent, or equal to the stated need, work, purpose, cost, burden, or occasion.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references · Webster 1828

COMBINED MEANING

burn

↗

Sense 1: To consume, injure, heat, dry, or harden by fire or intense heat. Sense 2: To be on fire.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

for

↗

1. In behalf of or in the place of. 2. With respect to, concerning, or toward. 3. Because of or on account of. 4. During or throughout. 5. In order to obtain or reach. 6. As a conjunction, because or seeing that.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

offering

↗

Sense 1: A gift, contribution, sacrifice, or other thing presented to God or another. Sense 2: The act of presenting, bringing, or giving something; also the present-participial form of offer.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Isaiah 40:17

COMBINED MEANING

nations

↗

Sense 1: Distinct peoples or political communities. Sense 2: The Gentile peoples as distinguished from Israel.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

before

↗

Earlier than in time; in front of; in the presence of; or prior in order or rank.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

counted

↗

Sense 1: Past tense or past participle of count: numbered or calculated. Sense 2: Past tense or past participle of count: reckoned, regarded, esteemed, or accounted as.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

vanity

↗

Emptiness, futility, worthlessness, falsehood, unreliability, or transience.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

DEFINED WORDS

Isaiah 40:18

COMBINED MEANING

whom

↗

The objective form of who, referring to the person or persons acted upon or related to.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

ye

↗

The second-person plural subject pronoun, referring to the persons being addressed as those who are, do, or receive the stated predicate.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

liken

↗

To compare, represent, describe, or treat a person or thing as like, similar, equal, or corresponding to another.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

likeness

↗

Resemblance, similarity, correspondence, form, appearance, image, or representation by which one person or thing is like another.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

COMBINED MEANING

compare

↗

To examine together, liken, or set one thing beside another to show likeness or difference.

Meaning drawn from: KJV context and cross-references

READ BEFORE AND AFTER

Surrounding Verses

Nearby Scripture remains separate from the selected passage until you add it.

14With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

15Behold, 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.

Selected passage

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

Selected passage

17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

Selected passage

18¶ To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

Selected passage

19The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

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