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A Prayer for Help

120 When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord,
    and he answered me.
Save me, Lord,
    from liars and deceivers.

You liars, what will God do to you?
    How will he punish you?
With a soldier's sharp arrows,
    with red-hot coals!

Living among you is as bad as living in Meshech
    or among the people of Kedar.[a]
I have lived too long
    with people who hate peace!
When I speak of peace,
    they are for war.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 120:5 Two distant regions, whose people were regarded as savages.

Prayer for Rescue from the Treacherous.

A Song of [a]Ascents.

120 (A)I cried to the Lord in my trouble,
And He answered me.
Rescue my soul, Lord, from (B)lying lips,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
What will He give to you, and what more will He do to you,
You (D)deceitful tongue?
(E)Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning (F)coals of the broom tree!

Woe to me, for I reside in (G)Meshech,
For I have settled among the (H)tents of (I)Kedar!
Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who (J)hate peace.
I (K)am for peace, but when I speak,
They are (L)for war.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 120 Title Ex 34:24; 1 Kin 12:27

120 (0) A song of ascents:

(1) I called to Adonai in my distress,
and he answered me.
Rescue me, Adonai, from lips that tell lies,
from a tongue full of deceit.

What has he in store for you, deceitful tongue?
What more will he do to you?
A warrior’s sharp arrows,
with red-hot coals from a broom tree.

How wretched I am, that I’m an alien in Meshekh,
that I must live among the tents of Keidar!
I have had to live far too long
with those who hate peace.
I am all for peace;
but when I speak, they are for war.

120 1-2 I’m in trouble. I cry to God,
    desperate for an answer:
“Deliver me from the liars, God!
    They smile so sweetly but lie through their teeth.”

3-4 Do you know what’s next, can you see what’s coming,
    all you bold-faced liars?
Pointed arrows and burning coals
    will be your reward.

5-7 I’m doomed to live in Meshech,
    cursed with a home in Kedar,
My whole life lived camping
    among quarreling neighbors.
I’m all for peace, but the minute
    I tell them so, they go to war!