Psalm 120–134

PSALM 120

A Song of Ascents.

¹In my distress I cry to the Lord,

that he may answer me:

²“Deliver me, O Lord,

from lying lips,

from a deceitful tongue.”

³What shall be given to you?

And what more shall be done to you,

you deceitful tongue?

⁴A warrior’s sharp arrows,

with glowing coals of the broom tree!

⁵Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech,

that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

⁶Too long have I had my dwelling

among those who hate peace.

⁷I am for peace;

but when I speak,

they are for war!

PSALM 121

A Song of Ascents.

¹I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From whence does my help come?

²My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

³He will not let your foot be moved,

he who keeps you will not slumber.

⁴Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade

on your right hand.

⁶The sun shall not smite you by day,

nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

⁸The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and for evermore.

PSALM 122

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

²Our feet have been standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem!

³Jerusalem, built as a city

which is bound firmly together,

⁴to which the tribes go up,

the tribes of the Lord,

as was decreed for Israel,

to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

⁵There thrones for judgment were set,

the thrones of the house of David.

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

“May they prosper who love you!

⁷Peace be within your walls,

and security within your towers!”

⁸For my brethren and companions’ sake

I will say, “Peace be within you!”

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your good.

PSALM 123

A Song of Ascents.

¹To thee I lift up my eyes,

O thou who art enthroned in the heavens!

²Behold, as the eyes of servants

look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maid

to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,

till he have mercy upon us.

³Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,

for we have had more than enough of contempt.

⁴Too long our soul has been sated

with the scorn of those who are at ease,

the contempt of the proud.

PSALM 124

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,

let Israel now say—

²if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,

when men rose up against us,

³then they would have swallowed us up alive,

when their anger was kindled against us;

⁴then the flood would have swept us away,

the torrent would have gone over us;

⁵then over us would have gone

the raging waters.

⁶Blessed be the Lord,

who has not given us

as prey to their teeth!

⁷We have escaped as a bird

from the snare of the fowlers;

the snare is broken,

and we have escaped!

⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

PSALM 125

A Song of Ascents.

¹Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but abides for ever.

²As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,

so the Lord is round about his people,

from this time forth and for evermore.

³For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest

upon the land allotted to the righteous,

lest the righteous put forth

their hands to do wrong.

⁴Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,

and to those who are upright in their hearts!

⁵But those who turn aside upon their crooked ways

the Lord will lead away with evildoers!

Peace be in Israel!

PSALM 126

A Song of Ascents.

¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,^l

we were like those who dream.

²Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then they said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”

³The Lord has done great things for us;

we are glad.

⁴Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like the watercourses in the Negeb!

⁵May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy!

⁶He that goes forth weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.

PSALM 127

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

¹Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

²It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

³Lo, sons are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

⁴Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the sons of one’s youth.

⁵Happy is the man who has

his quiver full of them!

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

PSALM 128

A Song of Ascents.

¹Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,

who walks in his ways!

²You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

³Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

within your house;

your children will be like olive shoots

around your table.

⁴Lo, thus shall the man be blessed

who fears the Lord.

⁵The Lord bless you from Zion!

May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem

all the days of your life!

⁶May you see your children’s children!

Peace be upon Israel!

PSALM 129

A Song of Ascents.

¹“Sorely have they afflicted me from my youth,”

let Israel now say—

²“Sorely have they afflicted me from my youth,

yet they have not prevailed against me.

³The plowers plowed upon my back;

they made long their furrows.”

⁴The Lord is righteous;

he has cut the cords of the wicked.

⁵May all who hate Zion

be put to shame and turned backward!

⁶Let them be like the grass on the housetops,

which withers before it grows up,

⁷with which the reaper does not fill his hand

or the binder of sheaves his bosom,

⁸while those who pass by do not say,

“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!

We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

PSALM 130

A Song of Ascents.

¹Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord!

²Lord, hear my voice!

Let thy ears be attentive

to the voice of my supplications!

³If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities,

Lord, who could stand?

⁴But there is forgiveness with thee,

that thou mayest be feared.

⁵I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

⁶my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plenteous redemption.

⁸And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

PSALM 131

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,

my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

too great and too marvelous for me.

²But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a child quieted at its mother’s breast;

like a child that is quieted is my soul.

³O Israel, hope in the Lord

from this time forth and for evermore.

PSALM 132

A Song of Ascents.

¹Remember, O Lord, in David’s favor,

all the hardships he endured;

²how he swore to the Lord

and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,

³“I will not enter my house

or get into my bed;

⁴I will not give sleep to my eyes

or slumber to my eyelids,

⁵until I find a place for the Lord,

a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

⁶Lo, we heard of it in Ephrathah,

we found it in the fields of Jaar.

⁷“Let us go to his dwelling place;

let us worship at his footstool!”

⁸Arise, O Lord, and go to thy resting place,

thou and the ark of thy might.

⁹Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness,

and let thy saints shout for joy.

¹⁰For thy servant David’s sake

do not turn away the face of thy anointed one.

¹¹The Lord swore to David a sure oath

from which he will not turn back:

“One of the sons of your body

I will set on your throne.

¹²If your sons keep my covenant

and my testimonies which I shall teach them,

their sons also for ever

shall sit upon your throne.”

¹³For the Lord has chosen Zion;

he has desired it for his habitation:

¹⁴“This is my resting place for ever;

here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

¹⁵I will abundantly bless her provisions;

I will satisfy her poor with bread.

¹⁶Her priests I will clothe with salvation,

and her saints will shout for joy.

¹⁷There I will make a horn to sprout for David;

I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.

¹⁸His enemies I will clothe with shame,

but upon himself his crown will shed its luster.”

PSALM 133

A Song of Ascents.

¹Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

²It is like the precious oil upon the head,

running down upon the beard,

upon the beard of Aaron,

running down on the collar of his robes!

³It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion!

For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,

life for evermore.

PSALM 134

A Song of Ascents.

¹Come, bless the Lord,

all you servants of the Lord,

who stand by night in the house of the Lord!

²Lift up your hands to the holy place,

and bless the Lord!

³May the Lord bless you from Zion,

he who made heaven and earth!