Lamentations 4:2
The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
Cross-reference
Lamentations 2:21 describes the same young men and women fallen by the sword – reinforcing the debasement of the precious sons.
Lamentations 5:12 continues the humiliation theme – princes hung and elders disrespected – echoing the debasement of the precious sons.
Jeremiah 19:11 uses the same potter's vessel imagery for the city broken beyond repair – directly paralleling the earthen pots metaphor.
Jeremiah 22:28 calls King Coniah a despised broken pot – the same 'earthen pot' imagery applied to a specific ruler.
2 Corinthians 4:7 uses the same 'jars of clay' imagery, but there it signifies divine treasure in human weakness, contrasting the degradation here.
2 Timothy 2:20 similarly contrasts gold and clay vessels, but distinguishes honorable from dishonorable use in God's house.
Isaiah 1:22 uses the same metaphor of precious metal becoming worthless dross, just as gold becomes clay here.
Ezekiel 22:18 uses a similar metaphor of God's people becoming worthless dross, echoing the devaluation of precious children to pots of clay.
Romans 9:21-23 uses potter and clay to illustrate God's sovereignty over vessels of honor and dishonor – a theological development of the earthen pot imagery.
Isaiah 30:14 likens God's judgment to shattering a potter's vessel – similar pottery imagery to the 'earthen pots' here.
Zechariah 9:13 portrays the sons of Zion as God's weapons – a hopeful contrast to being regarded as cheap pots here.