“Have you not heard? Long ago I have done it, from ancient times I have formed it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
He shall become a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined to cause the fall and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign which will be spoken against,
To the one we are the fragrance of death, which brings death, and to the other the fragrance of life, which brings life. Who is sufficient for these things?
For also it is contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes in Him shall never be put to shame.”
For there are some men who secretly crept in, who were marked long ago for this condemnation. They are ungodly men, who pervert the grace of our God into immorality and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.