Add parallel Print Page Options

Prayer for Deliverance from Slanderers

A Song of Ascents.

120 [a]In my distress I cry to the Lord,
    that he may answer me:
“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!

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
    that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
Too long have I had my dwelling
    among those who hate peace.
I am for peace;
    but when I speak,
    they are for war!

Footnotes

  1. 120 The first of the “Songs of Ascents,” or “Gradual Psalms,” that is, those that were recited or sung during the journey to Jerusalem on the occasion of the great pilgrim feasts.

Psalm 120

A Cry for Truth and Peace

A song of ascents.

In my distress I called to the Lord,
and He answered me.(A)
Lord, deliver me from lying lips
and a deceitful tongue.”(B)

What will He give you,
and what will He do to you,
you deceitful tongue?(C)
A warrior’s sharp arrows
with burning charcoal![a](D)

What misery that I have stayed in Meshech,[b](E)
that I have lived among the tents of Kedar![c](F)
I have lived too long
with those who hate peace.(G)
I am for peace; but when I speak,
they are for war.(H)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 120:4 Lit with coals of the broom bush
  2. Psalm 120:5 = a people far to the north of Palestine
  3. Psalm 120:5 = a nomadic people of the desert to the southeast