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Praise for Rescue from Enemies.

A Song of [a]Ascents. Of David.

124 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say,

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
When men rose up against us,

Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;

Then the waters would have engulfed us,
The torrent would have swept over our soul;

Then the [b]raging waters would have swept over our soul.”


Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us as prey to be torn by their teeth.

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The trap is broken and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 124:1 See Psalm 120 title note.
  2. Psalm 124:5 I.e. arrogant enemies.

The Lord Saves His People

A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover]. Of David.

124 What if the Lord had not been on our side?
    (Let Israel ·repeat this [L say].)
What if the Lord had not been on our side
    when ·we were attacked [L people rose against us]?
When they were angry with us,
    they would have swallowed us alive.
They would have been like ·a flood [L water] ·drowning [overflowing] us;
    they would have ·poured [passed] over us like a ·river [torrent].
    They would have ·swept us away [passed over us] like ·a mighty stream [raging waters].

·Praise [Blessed be] the Lord,
    who did not ·let them chew us up [L give us as prey to their teeth].
We escaped like a bird
    from the ·hunter’s [fowler’s] trap.
The trap broke,
    and we escaped.
Our help ·comes from [L is in the name of] the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth [Gen. 1].

Psalm 124

A song of ascents. Of David.

If the Lord had not been on our side—
    let Israel say(A)
if the Lord had not been on our side
    when people attacked us,
they would have swallowed us alive
    when their anger flared against us;
the flood(B) would have engulfed us,
    the torrent(C) would have swept over us,
the raging waters
    would have swept us away.

Praise be to the Lord,
    who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
    from the fowler’s snare;(D)
the snare has been broken,(E)
    and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name(F) of the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven(G) and earth.

124 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say;

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.