Romans 9:21

New International Reader's Version

Isn’t the potter free to make different kinds of pots out of the same lump of clay? Some are for special purposes. Others are for ordinary use.

Cross References

Proverbs 16:4

The Lord works everything out to the proper end. Even those who do wrong were made for a day of trouble.

Isaiah 10:15

Does an ax claim to be more important than the person who swings it? Does a saw brag that it is better than the one who uses it? That would be like a stick swinging the person who picks it up! It would be like a war club waving the one who carries it!

Isaiah 45:9

How terrible it will be for anyone who argues with their Maker! They are like a broken piece of pottery lying on the ground. Does clay say to a potter, “What are you making?” Does a pot say, “The potter doesn’t have any skill”?

Isaiah 64:8

Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay. You are the potter. Your hands made all of us.

Jeremiah 22:28

This man Jehoiachin is like a broken pot. Everyone hates him. No one wants him. Why will he and his children be thrown out of this land? Why will they be sent to a land they don’t know about?

Hosea 8:8

So the people of Israel are swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like something no one wants.

Acts 9:15

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! I have chosen this man to work for me. He will announce my name to the Gentiles and to their kings. He will also announce my name to the people of Israel.

Romans 9:11

Here is what happened. Rebekah’s twins had not even been born. They hadn’t done anything good or bad yet. So they show that God’s purpose is based firmly on his free choice.

Romans 9:18

So God does what he wants to do. He shows mercy to one person and makes another stubborn.

Romans 9:20

But you are a mere human being. So who are you to talk back to God? Scripture says, “Can what is made say to the one who made it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” (Isaiah 29:16; 45:9)