Psalm 121-125

Good News Translation

The Lord Our Protector

121 I look to the mountains;
where will my help come from?
²My help will come from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

³He will not let you fall;
your protector is always awake.

⁴The protector of Israel
    never dozes or sleeps.
⁵The Lord will guard you;
    he is by your side to protect you.
⁶The sun will not hurt you during the day,
    nor the moon during the night.

⁷The Lord will protect you from all danger;
he will keep you safe.
⁸He will protect you as you come and go
now and forever.

In Praise of Jerusalem^[a]

122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the Lord's house.”
²And now we are here,
standing inside the gates of Jerusalem!

³Jerusalem is a city restored
    in beautiful order and harmony.
⁴This is where the tribes come,
    the tribes of Israel,
to give thanks to the Lord
    according to his command.
⁵Here the kings of Israel
    sat to judge their people.

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
    “May those who love you prosper.
⁷    May there be peace inside your walls
    and safety in your palaces.”
⁸For the sake of my relatives and friends
    I say to Jerusalem, “Peace be with you!”
⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God
    I pray for your prosperity.

A Prayer for Mercy

123 Lord, I look up to you,
    up to heaven, where you rule.
²As a servant depends on his master,
    as a maid depends on her mistress,
so we will keep looking to you, O Lord our God,
    until you have mercy on us.

³Be merciful to us, Lord, be merciful;
we have been treated with so much contempt.
⁴We have been mocked too long by the rich
and scorned by proud oppressors.

God the Protector of His People^[b]

124 What if the Lord had not been on our side?
Answer, O Israel!

²“If the Lord had not been on our side
    when our enemies attacked us,
³then they would have swallowed us alive
    in their furious anger against us;
⁴then the flood would have carried us away,
    the water would have covered us,
⁵    the raging torrent would have drowned us.”

⁶Let us thank the Lord,
    who has not let our enemies destroy us.
⁷We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap;
    the trap is broken, and we are free!
⁸Our help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

The Security of God's People

125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
    which can never be shaken, never be moved.
²As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people,
    now and forever.

³The wicked will not always rule over the land of the righteous;
    if they did, the righteous themselves might do evil.
⁴Lord, do good to those who are good,
    to those who obey your commands.
⁵But when you punish the wicked,
    punish also those who abandon your ways.