The Psalter

    Psalm 120  
     
1
  When I was in trouble I called to the Lord; •
    I called to the Lord and he answered me.
     
2
  Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips •
    and from a deceitful tongue.
     
3
  What shall be given to you? •
    What more shall be done to you, deceitful tongue?
     
4
  The sharp arrows of a warrior, •
    tempered in burning coals!
     
5
  Woe is me, that I must lodge in Meshech •
    and dwell among the tents of Kedar.
     
6
  My soul has dwelt too long •
    with enemies of peace.
     
7
  I am for making peace, •
    but when I speak of it, they make ready for war.
       
    Psalm 121  
     
1
  I lift up my eyes to the hills; •
    from where is my help to come?
     
2
  My help comes from the Lord, •
    the maker of heaven and earth.
     
3
  He will not suffer your foot to stumble; •
    he who watches over you will not sleep.
     
4
  Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel •
    shall neither slumber nor sleep.
     
5
  The Lord himself watches over you; •
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand,
     
6
  So that the sun shall not strike you by day, •
    neither the moon by night.
     
7
  The Lord shall keep you from all evil; •
    it is he who shall keep your soul.
     
8
  The Lord shall keep watch over your going out
    and your coming in, •
    from this time forth for evermore.
       
    Psalm 122  
     
1
  I was glad when they said to me, •
    'Let us go to the house of the Lord.'
     
2
  And now our feet are standing •
    within your gates, O Jerusalem;
     
3
  Jerusalem, built as a city •
    that is at unity in itself.
     
4
  Thither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, •
    as is decreed for Israel,
    to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
     
5
  For there are set the thrones of judgement, •
    the thrones of the house of David.
     
     
6
  O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: •
    'May they prosper who love you.
     
7
  'Peace be within your walls •
    and tranquillity within your palaces.'
     
8
  For my kindred and companions' sake, •
    I will pray that peace be with you.
     
9
  For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, •
    I will seek to do you good.
       
    Psalm 123  
1
  To you I lift up my eyes, •
    to you that are enthroned in the heavens.
     
2
  As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, •
    or the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
     
3
  So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, •
    until he have mercy upon us.
     
4
  Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, •
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
     
5
  Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of the arrogant, •
    and of the contempt of the proud.
       
    Psalm 124  
     
1
  If the Lord himself had not been on our side, •
    now may Israel say;
     
2
  If the Lord had not been on our side, •
    when enemies rose up against us;
     
3
  Then would they have swallowed us alive •
    when their anger burned against us;
     
4
  Then would the waters have overwhelmed us
    and the torrent gone over our soul; •
    over our soul would have swept the raging waters.
     
     
5
  But blessed be the Lord •
    who has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.
     
6
  Our soul has escaped
    as a bird from the snare of the fowler; •
    the snare is broken and we are delivered.
     
7
  Our help is in the name of the Lord, •
    who has made heaven and earth.
       
    Psalm 125  
     
1
  Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, •
    which cannot be moved, but stands fast for ever.
     
2
  As the hills stand about Jerusalem, •
    so the Lord stands round about his people,
    from this time forth for evermore.
     
3
  The sceptre of wickedness shall not hold sway
    over the land allotted to the righteous, •
    lest the righteous turn their hands to evil.
     
4
  Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, •
    and to those who are true of heart.
     
5
  Those who turn aside to crooked ways
    the Lord shall take away with the evildoers; •
    but let there be peace upon Israel.