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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.

Psalm 120

Prayer for Deliverance from Slanderers

A Song of Ascents.

In my distress I cry to the Lord,
    that he may answer me:(A)
“Deliver me, O Lord,
    from lying lips,
    from a deceitful tongue.”

What shall be given to you?
    And what more shall be done to you,
    you deceitful tongue?
A warrior’s sharp arrows,
    with glowing coals of the broom tree!(B)

Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech,
    that I must live among the tents of Kedar.(C)
Too long have I had my dwelling
    among those who hate peace.
I am for peace,
    but when I speak,
    they are for war.

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!

Psalm 120

A song of ascents.

I call on the Lord(A) in my distress,(B)
    and he answers me.
Save me, Lord,
    from lying lips(C)
    and from deceitful tongues.(D)

What will he do to you,
    and what more besides,
    you deceitful tongue?
He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,(E)
    with burning coals of the broom bush.

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
    that I live among the tents of Kedar!(F)
Too long have I lived
    among those who hate peace.
I am for peace;
    but when I speak, they are for war.