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Psalm 126

A Harvest of Joy

A Song of Ascents.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,[a]
    we were like those who dream.(A)
Then our mouth was filled with laughter
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”(B)
The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we rejoiced.(C)

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like the watercourses in the Negeb.(D)
May those who sow in tears
    reap with shouts of joy.(E)
Those who go out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    carrying their sheaves.

Footnotes

  1. 126.1 Or brought back those who returned to Zion

God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint

I will stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me
    and what he[a] will answer concerning my complaint.(A)
Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so that a runner may read it.(B)
For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
    it speaks of the end and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
    it will surely come; it will not delay.(C)
Look at the proud!
    Their spirit is not right in them,
    but the righteous live by their faithfulness.(D)
Moreover, wealth[b] is treacherous;
    the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
    like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves
    and collect all peoples as their own.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 2.1 Syr: Heb I
  2. 2.5 Q mss: MT wine

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.(A) More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ(B) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ,[a] the righteousness from God based on faith.(C) 10 I want to know Christ[b] and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 3.9 Or through the faith of Christ
  2. 3.10 Gk him