The Captivity of Ephraim
1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!+ 2Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.+ 3The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:+ 4And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.+ 5In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,+ 6And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.+ 7But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.+ 8For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.+ 9Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.+ 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:+ 11For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.+ 12To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.+ 13But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.+A Cornerstone in Zion
1 Corinthians 3:10–15; Ephesians 2:19–22; 1 Peter 2:1–8
14Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.+ 15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:+ 16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.+ 17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.+ 18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.+ 19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.+ 20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.+ 21For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.+ 22Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.+