King James Bible
"All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity."
Isaiah declares the utter insignificance of even the mightiest empires when compared to God's infinite power and majesty. This statement would have been particularly striking to the exiled Israelites who witnessed the seemingly invincible power of Babylon, reminding them that their captors were ultimately powerless before Yahweh. The prophet intensifies his point using Hebrew parallelism, emphasizing that from God's perspective, nations are not merely small but effectively non-existent—like empty breath or vapor. This hyperbolic language underscores the vast chasm between divine sovereignty and human political power, offering comfort to a people who felt overwhelmed by foreign dominance.