Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers

    who rule this people in Jerusalem.

You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,

    with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.

When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,

    it cannot touch us,

for we have made a lie our refuge

    and falsehood our hiding place.”

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,

    a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;

the one who relies on it

    will never be stricken with panic.