Psalm 124
Good News Translation
God the Protector of His People[a]
124 What if the Lord had not been on our side?
Answer, O Israel!
2 “If the Lord had not been on our side
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive
in their furious anger against us;
4 then the flood would have carried us away,
the water would have covered us,
5 the raging torrent would have drowned us.”
6 Let us thank the Lord,
who has not let our enemies destroy us.
7 We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap;
the trap is broken, and we are free!
8 Our help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Footnotes
- Psalm 124:1 HEBREW TITLE: By David.
Psalm 124
New American Standard Bible
Praise for Rescue from Enemies.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
124 “(A)Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,”
(B)Let Israel say,
2 “Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When people rose up against us,
3 Then they would have (C)swallowed us alive,
When their (D)anger was kindled against us;
4 Then the (E)waters would have flooded over us,
The stream would have [a]swept over our souls;
5 Then the (F)raging waters would have [b]swept over our souls.”
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us [c]to be (G)torn by their teeth.
7 Our souls have (H)escaped (I)like a bird from the trapper’s (J)snare;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
8 Our (K)help is in the name of the Lord,
Who (L)made heaven and earth.
Footnotes
- Psalm 124:4 Or passed over
- Psalm 124:5 Or passed over
- Psalm 124:6 Lit as a prey to
Psalm 124
The Message
124 1-5 If God hadn’t been for us
—all together now, Israel, sing out!—
If God hadn’t been for us
when everyone went against us,
We would have been swallowed alive
by their violent anger,
Swept away by the flood of rage,
drowned in the torrent;
We would have lost our lives
in the wild, raging water.
6 Oh, blessed be God!
He didn’t go off and leave us.
He didn’t abandon us defenseless,
helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.
7 We’ve flown free from their fangs,
free of their traps, free as a bird.
Their grip is broken;
we’re free as a bird in flight.
8 God’s strong name is our help,
the same God who made heaven and earth.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson