Psalm 124

New International Version

Psalm 124

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹If the Lord had not been on our side—
    let Israel say^(A)—
²if the Lord had not been on our side
    when people attacked us,
³they would have swallowed us alive
    when their anger flared against us;
⁴the flood^(B) would have engulfed us,
    the torrent^(C) would have swept over us,
⁵the raging waters
    would have swept us away.

⁶Praise be to the Lord,
    who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
⁷We have escaped like a bird
    from the fowler’s snare;^(D)
the snare has been broken,^(E)
    and we have escaped.
⁸Our help is in the name^(F) of the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven^(G) and earth.

Jeremiah 31:15-17

New International Version

¹⁵This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,^(A)
    mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,^(B)
    because they are no more.”^(C)

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping
    and your eyes from tears,^(D)
for your work will be rewarded,^(E)”
declares the Lord.
    “They will return^(F) from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷So there is hope^(G) for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
    “Your children^(H) will return to their own land.

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Revelation 21:1-7

New International Version

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a]^(A) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,^(B) and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City,^(C) the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,^(D) prepared as a bride^(E) beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.^(F) They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.^(G) ⁴‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.^(H) There will be no more death’^[b]^(I) or mourning or crying or pain,^(J) for the old order of things has passed away.”^(K)

⁵He who was seated on the throne^(L) said, “I am making everything new!”^(M) Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”^(N)

⁶He said to me: “It is done.^(O) I am the Alpha and the Omega,^(P) the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost^(Q) from the spring of the water of life.^(R) ⁷Those who are victorious^(S) will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.^(T)

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Footnotes

Revelation 21:1 Isaiah 65:17
Revelation 21:4 Isaiah 25:8

Matthew 2:13-18

New International Version

The Escape to Egypt

¹³When 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)

¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where 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)

¹⁶When 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. ¹⁷Then 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)