Isaiah 40:17

40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;

they are regarded as absolutely nothing. ¹ 

Isaiah 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ²  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ³ 

[40:17]  ¹ tn Heb “[as derived] from nothing and unformed.”

[47:14]  ² tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ³ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.