122  I was glad when they said to me,

^g“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

2  Our feet have been standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem!

3  Jerusalem—^hbuilt as a city

that is ⁱbound firmly together,

4  to which the tribes ^jgo up,

the tribes of the Lord,

as was ^kdecreed for¹ Israel,

to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

5  There ^lthrones for judgment were set,

the thrones of the house of David.

6  ^mPray for the peace of Jerusalem!

“May they be secure who love you!

7  Peace be within your ⁿwalls

and security within your ⁿtowers!”

8  For my brothers and companions’ sake

I will say, ^o“Peace be within you!”

9  For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will ^pseek your good.

123  To you I ^qlift up my eyes,

O you who are ^renthroned in the heavens!

2  Behold, as the eyes of servants

look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maidservant

to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,

till he has mercy upon us.

3  ^sHave mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,

for we have had more than enough of ^tcontempt.

4  Our soul has had more than enough

of ^uthe scorn of ^vthose who are at ease,

of the contempt of ^wthe proud.

124  ^xIf it had not been the Lord who was on our side—

^ylet Israel now say—

2  if it had not been the Lord who was on our side

when people rose up against us,

3  then they would have ^zswallowed us up alive,

when their anger was kindled against us;

4  then ^athe flood would have ^bswept us away,

the torrent would have gone ^cover us;

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!

7  We have escaped like a bird

from ^dthe snare of the fowlers;

the snare is broken,

and we have escaped!

8  ^eOur help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

125  Those who ^ftrust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which ^gcannot be moved, but abides forever.

2  As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so ^hthe Lord surrounds his people,

from this time forth and forevermore.

3  For ⁱthe scepter of wickedness shall not ^jrest

on ^kthe land allotted to the righteous,

lest the righteous ^lstretch out

their hands to do wrong.

4  ^mDo good, O Lord, to those who are good,

and to those who are ⁿupright in their hearts!

5  But those who ^oturn aside to their ^pcrooked ways

the Lord will lead away with ^qevildoers!

^rPeace be upon Israel!

126  When the Lord ^srestored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who ^tdream.

2  Then our ^umouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then they said among the nations,

^v“The Lord has done great things for them.”

3  The Lord has done great things for us;

we are glad.

4  Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like streams in the Negeb!

5  ^wThose who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy!

6  He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.