1 Peter 2:4-10 (New International Version)

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

 ⁴As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For in Scripture it says:
   "See, I lay a stone in Zion,
      a chosen and precious cornerstone,
   and the one who trusts in him
      will never be put to shame."^{[a] 7}Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
   "The stone the builders rejected
      has become the capstone,^[b]"^{[c] 8}and,
   "A stone that causes men to stumble
      and a rock that makes them fall."^[d] They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

 ⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.