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This stone is very valuable to you who believe in Jesus. But the Bible says this about people who do not believe in him:

‘The builders refused to use a certain stone.
They thought that it had no value.
But now that stone has become the most important stone at the corner of the building.’[a]

The Bible also says this:

‘This stone will cause people to fall to the ground.
It is a rock that will make them fall down.’[b]

They fall down like that because they refuse to obey God's message. God already decided that this would happen to them.

But you are not like that. You are a special group of people that God has chosen. You serve God like priests who serve a King. You are his own holy people who belong to him. He has taken you out of the dark place of sin, and he has brought you into his great light. He has done all this so that you can tell people how great he is.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:7 See Psalms 118:22. Many years before Jesus lived on the earth, the Israelites built a special house for God. See 1 Kings 6—8. The stone at the corner of the house was the most important stone. It made the whole building strong and safe. It was the first stone that the builders put into its place. Then they put other stones next to it and above it, to build the walls. It was a big, square stone with very straight sides. So it made all the walls of the house straight and strong. Jesus is like the stone at the corner of God's house. God's true house is a spiritual house. God builds his true house with people who belong to Jesus Christ.
  2. 2:8 See Isaiah 8:14.

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,(A)

“The stone the builders rejected(B)
    has become the cornerstone,”[a](C)

and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”[b](D)

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.(E)

But you are a chosen people,(F) a royal priesthood,(G) a holy nation,(H) God’s special possession,(I) that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 2:7 Psalm 118:22
  2. 1 Peter 2:8 Isaiah 8:14