Yesaya 41:17

41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched from thirst.

I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ¹ 

I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

Yesaya 45:9

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ² 

one who is like a mere ³  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ⁴ 

“What in the world ⁵  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ⁶ 

[41:17]  ¹ tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[45:9]  ² tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ³ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ⁵ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ⁶ 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.”