1 Peter 2:1-10

[1]Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. [2]Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation -- [3]if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

[4]Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and [5]like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [6]For it stands in scripture:  

     "See, I am laying in Zion a stone,  

          a cornerstone chosen and precious;  

     and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."  

[7]To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

     "The stone that the builders rejected  

          has become the very head of the corner,"  

[8]and  

     "A stone that makes them stumble,  

          and a rock that makes them fall."  

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

[9]But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [10]Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.