Beginning
Psalm 120
A Song of degrees.
1 In my distress I cried unto the Lord,
and he heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips,
and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee?
or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty,
with coals of juniper.
5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech,
that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
7 I am for peace:
but when I speak, they are for war.
Psalm 121
A Song of degrees.
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:
he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper:
the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:
he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in
from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Psalm 122
A Song of degrees of David.
1 I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the Lord.
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel,
to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls,
and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes,
I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek thy good.
Psalm 123
A Song of degrees.
1 Unto thee lift I up mine eyes,
O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters,
and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress;
so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God,
until that he have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us:
for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease,
and with the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 124
A Song of degrees of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
now may Israel say;
2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when men rose up against us:
3 then they had swallowed us up quick,
when their wrath was kindled against us:
4 then the waters had overwhelmed us,
the stream had gone over our soul:
5 then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers:
the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 125
A Song of degrees.
1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion,
which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
so the Lord is round about his people
from henceforth even for ever.
3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous;
lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good,
and to them that are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways,
the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity:
but peace shall be upon Israel.
Psalm 126
A Song of degrees.
1 When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion,
we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
and our tongue with singing:
then said they among the heathen,
The Lord hath done great things for them.
3 The Lord hath done great things for us;
whereof we are glad.
4 Turn again our captivity, O Lord,
as the streams in the south.
5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 127
A Song of degrees for Solomon.
1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it:
except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows:
for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Psalm 128
A Song of degrees.
1 Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord;
that walketh in his ways.
2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands:
happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house:
thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed
that feareth the Lord.
5 The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion:
and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children,
and peace upon Israel.
Psalm 129
A Song of degrees.
1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth,
may Israel now say:
2 many a time have they afflicted me from my youth:
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back:
they made long their furrows.
4 The Lord is righteous:
he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops,
which withereth afore it groweth up:
7 wherewith the mower filleth not his hand;
nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
8 Neither do they which go by say,
The blessing of the Lord be upon you:
we bless you in the name of the Lord.
Psalm 130
A Song of degrees.
1 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice:
let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
3 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with thee,
that thou mayest be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait,
and in his word do I hope.
6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning:
I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
7 Let Israel hope in the Lord:
for with the Lord there is mercy,
and with him is plenteous redemption.
8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalm 131
A Song of degrees of David.
1 Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty:
neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.
2 Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother:
my soul is even as a weaned child.
3 Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever.
Psalm 132
A Song of degrees.
1 Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions:
2 how he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
3 surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house,
nor go up into my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to mine eyes,
or slumber to mine eyelids,
5 until I find out a place for the Lord,
an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.
6 Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah:
we found it in the fields of the wood.
7 We will go into his tabernacles:
we will worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, O Lord, into thy rest;
thou, and the ark of thy strength.
9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness;
and let thy saints shout for joy.
10 For thy servant David’s sake
turn not away the face of thine anointed.
11 The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it;
Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
12 If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them,
their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.
13 For the Lord hath chosen Zion;
he hath desired it for his habitation.
14 This is my rest for ever:
here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provision:
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation:
and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 There will I make the horn of David to bud:
I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.
18 His enemies will I clothe with shame:
but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.