Psalm 122-124

Common English Bible

Psalm 122

A pilgrimage song. Of David.

122 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let’s go to the Lord’s house!”
²Now our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem!

³Jerusalem is built like a city
    joined together in unity.
⁴That is where the tribes go up—
    the Lord’s tribes!
It is the law for Israel
    to give thanks there to the Lord’s name,
⁵    because the thrones of justice are there—
    the thrones of the house of David!

⁶Pray that Jerusalem has peace:
    “Let those who love you have rest.
⁷    Let there be peace on your walls;
    let there be rest on your fortifications.”
⁸For the sake of my family and friends,
    I say, “Peace be with you, Jerusalem.”
⁹For the sake of the Lord our God’s house
    I will pray for your good.

Psalm 123

A pilgrimage song.

123 I raise my eyes to you—
    you who rule heaven.
²Just as the eyes of servants attend to their masters’ hand,
    just as the eyes of a female servant attend to her mistress’ hand—
    that’s how our eyes attend to the Lord our God
    until he has mercy on us.

³Have mercy on us, Lord! Have mercy
because we’ve had more than enough shame.
⁴We’ve had more than enough mockery from the self-confident,
more than enough shame from the proud.

Psalm 124

A pilgrimage song. Of David.

124 If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
    let Israel now repeat!—
²    if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
        when those people attacked us
³then they would have swallowed us up whole
        with their rage burning against us!
⁴Then the waters would have drowned us;
    the torrent would have come over our necks;^[a]
⁵    then the raging waters would have come over our necks!

⁶Bless the Lord
    because he didn’t hand us over
    like food for our enemies’ teeth!
⁷We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
    the trap was broken so we escaped!

⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.