10. For it is:do this, do that,a rule for this, a rule for that;a little here, a little there.’
11. Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tonguesGod will speak to this people,
12. to whom he said,‘This is the resting-place, let the weary rest’;and, ‘This is the place of repose’ –but they would not listen.
13. So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:do this, do that,a rule for this, a rule for that;a little here, a little there –so that as they go they will fall backwards;they will be injured and snared and captured.
14. Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scofferswho rule this people in Jerusalem.
15. 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 refugeand falsehood our hiding-place.’
16. So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;the one who relies on itwill never be stricken with panic.