Psalm 124-126

Easy-to-Read Version

A song of David for going up to the Temple.

124 What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side?
    Tell us about it, Israel.
²What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side
    when people attacked us?
³They would have swallowed us alive
    when they became angry with us.
⁴Their armies would have been
    like a flood washing over us,
    like a river drowning us.
⁵Those proud people would have been
    like water rising up to our mouth and drowning us.

⁶Praise the Lord!
He did not let our enemies tear us apart.

⁷We escaped like a bird from the net of a hunter.
The net broke, and we escaped!
⁸Our help came from the Lord,
the one who made heaven and earth!

A song for going up to the Temple.

125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.
    They will never be shaken.
    They will continue forever.
²Like the mountains that surround Jerusalem,
    the Lord surrounds and protects his people now and forever.
³The wicked will not always control the land of those who do right.
    If they did, even those who do right might start doing wrong.

⁴Lord, be good to those who are good,
to those who have pure hearts.
⁵But, Lord, when you punish those who do evil,
also punish those who have stopped following your way.

Let Israel always enjoy peace!

A song for going up to the Temple.

126 It will be like a dream
    when the Lord comes back with the captives of Zion.^[a]
²We will laugh and sing happy songs!
    Then the other nations will say,
    “The Lord did a great thing for Zion!”
³Yes, we will be happy
    because the Lord did a great thing for us.

⁴So, Lord, bring back the good times,
    like a desert stream filled again with flowing water.
⁵Then those who were sad when they planted
    will be happy when they gather the harvest!
⁶Those who cried as they carried the seeds^[b]
    will be happy when they bring in the crops!

Footnotes

Psalm 126:1 when … Zion Or “when the Lord restores Zion.” See “Zion” in the Word List.
Psalm 126:6 carried the seeds Or “carried all their possessions.”