Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of (A)Ascents. Of David.

124 (B)If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—
    (C)let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
    when people rose up against us,
then they would have (D)swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
then (E)the flood would have (F)swept us away,
    the torrent would have gone (G)over us;
then over us would have gone
    the raging waters.

Blessed be the Lord,
    who has not given us
    as prey to their teeth!
We have escaped like a bird
    from (H)the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
    and we have escaped!

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

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.

The Flight to Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, (A)an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. (B)This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, (C)“Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Herod Kills the Children

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 (D)Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

18 (E)“A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be comforted, because they (F)are no more.”

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The Escape to Egypt

13 When they had gone, an angel(A) of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.(B) “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”(C)

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled(D) what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[a](E)

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:(F)

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel(G) weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”[b](H)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 2:15 Hosea 11:1
  2. Matthew 2:18 Jer. 31:15