And the Lord said to him: Go thy way; for this man is to me a vessel of election, to carry my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.
Is this man Jechonias an earthen and a broken vessel? Is he a vessel wherein there is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
Shall the axe boast itself against him that cutteth with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? As if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself, which is but wood.
Woe to him that gainsayeth his maker, a shard of the earthen pots. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands?