16 You turn things upside down,

as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!

Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,

“You did not make me”?

Can the pot say to the potter,

“You know nothing”?

16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay:

For shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?

Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

16 How foolish can you be?

He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!

Should the created thing say of the one who made it,

“He didn’t make me”?

Does a jar ever say,

“The potter who made me is stupid”?

16 Surely you have things turned around!

Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;

For shall the thing made say of him who made it,

“He did not make me”?

Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

16 You are confused.

You think the clay is equal to the potter.

You think that an object can tell the one who made it,

“You didn’t make me.”

This is like a pot telling its maker,

“You don’t know anything.”

16 Ye turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it, He made me not; or the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath no understanding?

16 Oh your perverseness! —Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay, so that the work should say of him that made it, He made me not; or the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath no understanding?

16 You turn things upside down! 

Is the potter no better than his clay? 

Can something that has been made 

say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? 

Can a piece of pottery 

say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”? 

16 You have turned things around,

as if the potter were the same as the clay.

How can what is made say about its maker,

“He didn’t make me”?

How can what is formed

say about the one who formed it,

“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?

16 You turn things upside down!

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay?

Shall the thing made say of its maker,

“He did not make me”;

or the thing formed say of the one who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

16 Your perversity!

As if a potter shall be regarded as the clay!

That the product of its maker says,

“He did not make me,”

and the thing made into shape says of its potter,

“He has no understanding.”

16 They turn everything upside down.

How silly they are to think that potters are like the clay they work with!

Can what is made say to the one who made it,

“You didn’t make me”?

Can the pot say to the potter,

“You don’t know anything”?

16 You turn things around!

Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,

That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;

Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?