Psalm 122-125
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 122
Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”(A)
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.(B)
4 To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(C)
5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.(D)
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.(E)
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.(F)
Psalm 123
Supplication for Mercy
A Song of Ascents.
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!(G)
2 As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.(H)
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.(I)
4 Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.(J)
Psalm 124
Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
—let Israel now say—(K)
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;(L)
4 then the flood would have swept us away;
the torrent would have gone over us;(M)
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.(N)
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.(O)
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(P)
Psalm 125
The Security of God’s People
A Song of Ascents.
1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved but abides forever.(Q)
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people
from this time on and forevermore.(R)
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.(S)
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
and to those who are upright in their hearts.(T)
5 But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways,
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!(U)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.