Psalm 123

New King James Version

Prayer for Relief from Contempt

A Song of Ascents.

123 Unto You ^(A)I lift up my eyes,
O You ^(B)who dwell in the heavens.
²Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
^(C)So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He has mercy on us.

³Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
⁴Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud.

Psalm 124

New King James Version

The Lord the Defense of His People

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

124 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our ^(A)side,”
^(B)Let Israel now say—
²“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
³Then they would have ^(C)swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
⁴Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have ^[a]gone over our soul;
⁵Then the swollen waters
Would have ^[b]gone over our soul.”

⁶Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
⁷^(D)Our soul has escaped ^(E)as a bird from the snare of the ^[c]fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
⁸^(F)Our help is in the name of the Lord,
^(G)Who made heaven and earth.

Footnotes

Psalm 124:4 swept over
Psalm 124:5 swept over
Psalm 124:7 Persons who catch birds in a trap or snare

Psalm 125

New King James Version

The Lord the Strength of His People

A Song of Ascents.

125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
²As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.

³For ^(A)the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous,
Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.

⁴Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
And to those who are upright in their hearts.

⁵As for such as turn aside to their ^(B)crooked ways,
The Lord shall lead them away
With the workers of iniquity.

^(C)Peace be upon Israel!

2 Thessalonians 3

New King James Version

Pray for Us

3 Finally, brethren, ^(A)pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, ²and ^(B)that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; ^(C)for not all have faith.

³But ^(D)the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and ^(E)guard you from the evil one. ⁴And ^(F)we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you.

⁵Now may ^(G)the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

⁶But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(H)that you withdraw ^(I)from every brother who walks ^(J)disorderly and not according to the tradition which ^[a]he received from us. ⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; ⁸nor did we eat anyone’s bread ^[b]free of charge, but worked with ^(K)labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, ⁹not because we do not have ^(L)authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.

¹⁰For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. ¹¹For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are ^(M)busybodies. ¹²Now those who are such we command and ^[c]exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ ^(N)that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

¹³But as for you, brethren, ^(O)do not grow weary in doing good. ¹⁴And if anyone does not obey our word in this ^[d]epistle, note that person and ^(P)do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. ¹⁵^(Q)Yet do not count him as an enemy, ^(R)but ^[e]admonish him as a brother.