He will be a place of safety for you. But he will be a rock that makes people trip and a stumbling block for both kingdoms of Israel. He will be a trap and a snare for those who live in Jerusalem.
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rain, and shade from the heat. (A tyrant’s breath is like a rainstorm against a wall,
This is what the Almighty Lord says: I am going to lay a rock in Zion, a rock that has been tested, a precious cornerstone, a solid foundation. Whoever believes ⌞in him⌟ will not worry.
We grope like blind men along a wall. We grope like people without eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were twilight. We are like dead people among healthy people.
This is what the Lord says: I’m going to lay stumbling blocks in front of these people. Parents and children will stumble over them. Neighbors and their friends will die.
“So tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, I have been their sanctuary for a little while among the countries where they’ve gone.’
If righteous people turn from living the right way and do wrong, I will make them stumble, and they will die. If you don’t warn them, they will die because of their sin, and the right things they did will not be remembered. I will hold you responsible for their deaths.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “This child is the reason that many people in Israel will be condemned and many others will be saved. He will be a sign that will expose
a stone that people trip over, a large rock that people find offensive.” The people tripped over the word because they refused to believe it. Therefore, this is how they ended up.