45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, 1
one who is like a mere 2 shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter, 3
“What in the world 4 are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!” 5
45:10 Danger awaits one who says 6 to his father,
“What in the world 7 are you fathering?”
and to his mother,
“What in the world are you bringing forth?” 8
45:14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit 9 of Egypt and the revenue 10 of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you 11 and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. 12
They will bow down to you
and pray to you: 13
‘Truly God is with 14 you; he has no peer; 15
there is no other God!’”
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
2 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
3 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
4 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
5 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.”
6 tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”
7 tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.
8 sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.
9 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
10 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
11 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
12 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
13 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
14 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
15 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.