Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close NET

Psalm 124
New English Translation

Psalm 124[a]

A song of ascents;[b] by David.

124 “If the Lord had not been on our side”—
let Israel say this.—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us,[c]
3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current[d] would have overwhelmed[e] us.[f]
5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us.[g]
6 The Lord deserves praise,[h]
for[i] he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives,[j] like a bird from a hunter’s snare.
The snare broke, and we escaped.
8 Our deliverer is the Lord,[k]
the Creator[l] of heaven and earth.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 124:1 sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.
  2. Psalm 124:1 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
  3. Psalm 124:2 tn Heb “rose up against us.”
  4. Psalm 124:4 tn Or “stream.”
  5. Psalm 124:4 tn Heb “would have passed over.”
  6. Psalm 124:4 tn Heb “our being.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
  7. Psalm 124:5 tn Heb “then they would have passed over our being, the raging waters.”
  8. Psalm 124:6 tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”
  9. Psalm 124:6 tn Heb “[the one] who.”
  10. Psalm 124:7 tn Heb “our life escaped.”
  11. Psalm 124:8 tn Heb “our help [is] in the name of the Lord.”
  12. Psalm 124:8 tn Or “Maker.”
Listen to Psalm 124
Close NIV

Psalm 124
New International Version

Psalm 124

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 If the Lord had not been on our side—
    let Israel say(A)—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
    when people attacked us,
3 they would have swallowed us alive
    when their anger flared against us;
4 the flood(B) would have engulfed us,
    the torrent(C) would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters
    would have swept us away.

6 Praise be to the Lord,
    who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
    from the fowler’s snare;(D)
the snare has been broken,(E)
    and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name(F) of the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven(G) and earth.

Next
Psalm 123
Psalm 125
Next
dropdown
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

July Summer Surge

More on the NIV