15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,
    or the saw boast against the one who uses it?(A)
As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,
    or a club(B) brandish the one who is not wood!

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15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.

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20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(A) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(B) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[a](C) 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9

20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

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“Woe to those who quarrel(A) with their Maker,(B)
    those who are nothing but potsherds(C)
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,(D)
    ‘What are you making?’(E)
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?(F)

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Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

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O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.

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16 You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!(A)
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed(B) it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,(C)
    “You know nothing”?(D)

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16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

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Will you then say, “I am a god,”
    in the presence of those who kill you?
You will be but a mortal, not a god,(A)
    in the hands of those who slay you.(B)

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Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.

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20 “You are my war club,(A)
    my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter(B) nations,(C)
    with you I destroy kingdoms,
21 with you I shatter horse and rider,(D)
    with you I shatter chariot(E) and driver,
22 with you I shatter man and woman,
    with you I shatter old man and youth,
    with you I shatter young man and young woman,(F)
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
    with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
    with you I shatter governors and officials.(G)

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20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;

22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;

23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

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13 Rise up,(A) Lord, confront them, bring them down;(B)
    with your sword rescue me from the wicked.
14 By your hand save me from such people, Lord,
    from those of this world(C) whose reward is in this life.(D)
May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;
    may their children gorge themselves on it,
    and may there be leftovers(E) for their little ones.

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13 Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

14 From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

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