Psalm 120-135

New Living Translation

¹ I took my troubles to the Lord;
    I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.
² Rescue me, O Lord, from liars
    and from all deceitful people.
³ O deceptive tongue, what will God do to you?
    How will he increase your punishment?
⁴ You will be pierced with sharp arrows
    and burned with glowing coals.

⁵ How I suffer in far-off Meshech.
    It pains me to live in distant Kedar.
⁶ I am tired of living
    among people who hate peace.
⁷ I search for peace;
    but when I speak of peace, they want war!

¹ I look up to the mountains—
    does my help come from there?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth!

³ He will not let you stumble;
    the one who watches over you will not slumber.
⁴ Indeed, he who watches over Israel
    never slumbers or sleeps.

⁵ The Lord himself watches over you!
    The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
⁶ The sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon at night.

⁷ The Lord keeps you from all harm
    and watches over your life.
⁸ The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
    both now and forever.

¹ I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
² And now here we are,
    standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem.
³ Jerusalem is a well-built city;
    its seamless walls cannot be breached.
⁴ All the tribes of Israel—the Lord’s people—
    make their pilgrimage here.
They come to give thanks to the name of the Lord,
    as the law requires of Israel.
⁵ Here stand the thrones where judgment is given,
    the thrones of the dynasty of David.

⁶ Pray for peace in Jerusalem.
    May all who love this city prosper.
⁷ O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls
    and prosperity in your palaces.
⁸ For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,
    “May you have peace.”
⁹ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
    I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.

¹ I lift my eyes to you,
    O God, enthroned in heaven.
² We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy,
    just as servants keep their eyes on their master,
    as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.
³ Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy,
    for we have had our fill of contempt.
⁴ We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud
    and the contempt of the arrogant.

¹ What if the Lord had not been on our side?
    Let all Israel repeat:
² What if the Lord had not been on our side
    when people attacked us?
³ They would have swallowed us alive
    in their burning anger.
⁴ The waters would have engulfed us;
    a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
⁵ Yes, the raging waters of their fury
    would have overwhelmed our very lives.

⁶ Praise the Lord,
    who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
⁷ We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap.
    The trap is broken, and we are free!
⁸ Our help is from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

¹ Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion;
    they will not be defeated but will endure forever.
² Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever.
³ The wicked will not rule the land of the godly,
    for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong.
⁴ O Lord, do good to those who are good,
    whose hearts are in tune with you.
⁵ But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O Lord.
    Take them away with those who do evil.

May Israel have peace!

¹ When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem,^[a]
    it was like a dream!
² We were filled with laughter,
    and we sang for joy.
And the other nations said,
    “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”
³ Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!
    What joy!

⁴ Restore our fortunes, Lord,
    as streams renew the desert.
⁵ Those who plant in tears
    will harvest with shouts of joy.
⁶ They weep as they go to plant their seed,
    but they sing as they return with the harvest.

¹ Unless the Lord builds a house,
    the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
    guarding it with sentries will do no good.
² It is useless for you to work so hard
    from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
    for God gives rest to his loved ones.

³ Children are a gift from the Lord;
    they are a reward from him.
⁴ Children born to a young man
    are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
⁵ How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
    He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

¹ How joyful are those who fear the Lord—
    all who follow his ways!
² You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
    How joyful and prosperous you will be!
³ Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
    flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
    as they sit around your table.
⁴ That is the Lord’s blessing
    for those who fear him.

⁵ May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.
    May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
⁶ May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
    May Israel have peace!

¹ From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me.
    Let all Israel repeat this:
² From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me,
    but they have never defeated me.
³ My back is covered with cuts,
    as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.
⁴ But the Lord is good;
    he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.

⁵ May all who hate Jerusalem^[b]
    be turned back in shameful defeat.
⁶ May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop,
    turning yellow when only half grown,
⁷ ignored by the harvester,
    despised by the binder.
⁸ And may those who pass by
    refuse to give them this blessing:
“The Lord bless you;
    we bless you in the Lord’s name.”

¹ From the depths of despair, O Lord,
    I call for your help.
² Hear my cry, O Lord.
    Pay attention to my prayer.

³ Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,
    who, O Lord, could ever survive?
⁴ But you offer forgiveness,
    that we might learn to fear you.

⁵ I am counting on the Lord;
    yes, I am counting on him.
    I have put my hope in his word.
⁶ I long for the Lord
    more than sentries long for the dawn,
    yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord;
    for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
    His redemption overflows.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from every kind of sin.

¹ Lord, my heart is not proud;
    my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
    or too awesome for me to grasp.
² Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
    like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
    Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
    now and always.

¹ Lord, remember David
    and all that he suffered.
² He made a solemn promise to the Lord.
    He vowed to the Mighty One of Israel,^[c]
3 “I will not go home;
    I will not let myself rest.
⁴ I will not let my eyes sleep
    nor close my eyelids in slumber
⁵ until I find a place to build a house for the Lord,
    a sanctuary for the Mighty One of Israel.”

⁶ We heard that the Ark was in Ephrathah;
    then we found it in the distant countryside of Jaar.
⁷ Let us go to the sanctuary of the Lord;
    let us worship at the footstool of his throne.
⁸ Arise, O Lord, and enter your resting place,
    along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.
⁹ May your priests be clothed in godliness;
    may your loyal servants sing for joy.
¹⁰ For the sake of your servant David,
    do not reject the king you have anointed.
¹¹ The Lord swore an oath to David
    with a promise he will never take back:
“I will place one of your descendants
    on your throne.
¹² If your descendants obey the terms of my covenant
    and the laws that I teach them,
then your royal line
    will continue forever and ever.”

¹³ For the Lord has chosen Jerusalem^[d];
    he has desired it for his home.
¹⁴ “This is my resting place forever,” he said.
    “I will live here, for this is the home I desired.
¹⁵ I will bless this city and make it prosperous;
    I will satisfy its poor with food.
¹⁶ I will clothe its priests with godliness;
    its faithful servants will sing for joy.
¹⁷ Here I will increase the power of David;
    my anointed one will be a light for my people.
¹⁸ I will clothe his enemies with shame,
    but he will be a glorious king.”

¹ How wonderful and pleasant it is
    when brothers live together in harmony!
² For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
    that was poured over Aaron’s head,
    that ran down his beard
    and onto the border of his robe.
³ Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
    that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing,
    even life everlasting.

¹ Oh, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
    you who serve at night in the house of the Lord.
² Lift your hands toward the sanctuary,
    and praise the Lord.

³ May the Lord, who made heaven and earth,
    bless you from Jerusalem.^[e]

Praise the name of the Lord!
    Praise him, you who serve the Lord,
² you who serve in the house of the Lord,
    in the courts of the house of our God.

³ Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
    celebrate his lovely name with music.
⁴ For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
    Israel for his own special treasure.

⁵ I know the greatness of the Lord—
    that our Lord is greater than any other god.
⁶ The Lord does whatever pleases him
    throughout all heaven and earth,
    and on the seas and in their depths.
⁷ He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth.
    He sends the lightning with the rain
    and releases the wind from his storehouses.

⁸ He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home,
    both people and animals.
⁹ He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt
    against Pharaoh and all his people.
¹⁰ He struck down great nations
    and slaughtered mighty kings—
¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,
    Og king of Bashan,
    and all the kings of Canaan.
¹² He gave their land as an inheritance,
    a special possession to his people Israel.

¹³ Your name, O Lord, endures forever;
    your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation.
¹⁴ For the Lord will give justice to his people
    and have compassion on his servants.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold,
    shaped by human hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths but cannot speak,
    and eyes but cannot see.
¹⁷ They have ears but cannot hear,
    and mouths but cannot breathe.
¹⁸ And those who make idols are just like them,
    as are all who trust in them.

¹⁹ O Israel, praise the Lord!
    O priests—descendants of Aaron—praise the Lord!
²⁰ O Levites, praise the Lord!
    All you who fear the Lord, praise the Lord!
²¹ The Lord be praised from Zion,
    for he lives here in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!