The text describes a narrator's experience of going to see a potter at work. The potter was shaping clay on his pottery wheel and the narrator saw that one of the pots he was making was flawed. The potter then declared that he could do with the people of Israel as he does with clay, molding them as he sees fit. The narrator then references a passage in the book of Jeremiah that describes the same message. Essentially, the text illustrates the analogy of the potter and clay to convey the idea that God has the power to shape and mold people according to his will.