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Isaiah 45:9-10
New English Translation
Isaiah 45:9-10
New English Translation
The Lord Gives a Warning
9 One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger,[a]
one who is like a mere[b] shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter,[c]
“What in the world[d] are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!”[e]
10 Danger awaits one who says[f] to his father,
“What in the world[g] are you fathering?”
and to his mother,
“What in the world are you bringing forth?”[h]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
- Isaiah 45:9 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
- Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it,…?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
- Isaiah 45:9 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
- Isaiah 45:9 tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”
- Isaiah 45:10 tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”
- Isaiah 45:10 tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.
- Isaiah 45:10 sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.
Isaiah 45:9-10
New International Version
Isaiah 45:9-10
New International Version
9 “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?’
New English Translation (NET)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.