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)

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Footnotes

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

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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“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)
10 Woe to the one who says to a father,
    ‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
    ‘What have you brought to birth?’

11 “This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One(G) of Israel, and its Maker:(H)
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?(I)

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Yet you, Lord, are our Father.(A)
    We are the clay, you are the potter;(B)
    we are all the work of your hand.(C)

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13 Why do you complain to him(A)
    that he responds to no one’s words[a]?(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 33:13 Or that he does not answer for any of his actions

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty(A) correct him?(B)
    Let him who accuses God answer him!”(C)

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15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’(A)

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Will your long-winded speeches never end?(A)
    What ails you that you keep on arguing?(B)

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20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]?(A)

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Footnotes

  1. James 2:20 Some early manuscripts dead

and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth(A) and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

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20 Where is the wise person?(A) Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age?(B) Has not God made foolish(C) the wisdom of the world?

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“I know that you can do all things;(A)
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.(B)
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’(C)
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.(D)

“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’(E)
My ears had heard of you(F)
    but now my eyes have seen you.(G)
Therefore I despise myself(H)
    and repent(I) in dust and ashes.”(J)

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“Would you discredit my justice?(A)
    Would you condemn me to justify yourself?(B)

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“Who is this that obscures my plans(A)
    with words without knowledge?(B)
Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.(C)

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23 Who has prescribed his ways(A) for him,(B)
    or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?(C)

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Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything,(A) to try to please them, not to talk back to them,

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God’s Righteous Judgment

You, therefore, have no excuse,(A) you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.(B)

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He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly(A) and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly[a](B) with your God.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 6:8 Or prudently

I spoke once, but I have no answer(A)
    twice, but I will say no more.”(B)

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16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save(A) your husband?(B) Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

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