But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
Parallel translations
- WEB But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
- KJV But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
- NKJV But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.
- NASB ¶But now, Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter, And all of us are the work of Your hand.
- NLT And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The people appeal to God as Father and potter, confessing they are the clay, the work of His hands. It matters because it casts hope entirely on God's fatherly, sovereign care.
Overview
Despite their sin, the people return to God as Father and Maker, submitting to Him as clay to the potter. This humble appeal acknowledges both God's sovereignty and His personal relationship with His people. The potter-clay image recurs in Romans 9:20-21 and assures believers that the God who formed them can also remake and restore them in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Eph 2:10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Ps 119:73Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments.
- Jer 18:2–6“Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will reveal My message to you.”
- Ps 138:8The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.
- Ps 100:3Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Isa 29:16You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?
- Isa 44:24Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
- Isa 45:9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Isa 63:16Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
- Isa 43:7everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”
- Isa 44:21Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you.
- Rom 9:20–24But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Deut 32:6Is this how you repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people? Is He not your Father and Creator? Has He not made you and established you?
- Job 10:8–9Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?
- Gal 3:26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Gal 3:29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
- Exod 4:22Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 64:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.