A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore, ahear the word of Yahweh, O bscoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have cut a acovenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
bThe overflowing scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made cfalsehood our refuge and we have dhidden ourselves with lying.”
16 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh,
“aBehold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested bstone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17 I will make ajustice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then bhail will sweep away the refuge of falsehood,
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 Your acovenant with death will be bcanceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the aoverflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will become its ctrampling place.
19 As aoften as it passes through, it will take you;
For bmorning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer cterror to understand the report.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the ablanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For Yahweh will rise up as at Mount aPerazim;
He will be stirred up as in the valley of bGibeon,
To work His cwork, His dunusual work,
And to labor in His labor, His exceptional labor.
22 So now do not carry on as ascoffers,
Lest your fetters be made stronger;
For I have heard from Lord Yahweh of hosts
Of complete bdestruction, one that is decreed, on all the earth.