Isaiah 40:22

God's power and sovereignty Creation

²⁰ To one bereft of an offering who chooses wood that will not rot, who seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple?

²¹ Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

²³ He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.

²⁴ No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
KJV: It 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:
WEB: It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
ASV: [It is] he that sitteth above 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;
DARBY: [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a gauze curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
BLB: He is sitting above the circle of the earth, and its dwellers [are] like grasshoppers; He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and He spreads them out like a tent to dwell [in].

ÅB: Han er jo den som troner over den vide jord, og de som bor på den, er som gresshopper; han er den som bredte ut himmelen som et tynt teppe og utspente den som et telt til å bo i,
OTB: Han sitter på tronen over jordens sirkel, og dens innbyggere er som gresshopper. Han strekker ut himlene som et baldakin og brer dem ut som et telt å bo i.
B1930: Han er jo den som troner over den vide jord, og de som bor på den, er som gresshopper; han er den som bredte ut himmelen som et tynt teppe og utspente den som et telt til å bo i,

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Proverbs 8:27
I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
Read in context
Isaiah 42:5
This is what God the LORD says— He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:
Read in context
Psalms 104:2
He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
Read in context
Isaiah 66:1
This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
Read in context
Jeremiah 10:12
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
Read in context
Job 22:14
Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’
Read in context
Numbers 13:33
We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
Read in context
Isaiah 40:15
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
Read in context