Add parallel Print Page Options

A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. A psalm of David.

124 Here is what Israel should say.
    Suppose the Lord had not been on our side.
Suppose the Lord had not been on our side
    when our enemies attacked us.
Suppose he had not been on our side
    when their burning anger blazed out against us.
    Then they would have swallowed us alive.
They would have been like a flood that drowned us.
    They would have swept over us like a rushing river.
They would have washed us away
    like a swollen stream.

Give praise to the Lord.
    He has not let our enemies chew us up.
We have escaped like a bird
    from a hunter’s trap.
The trap has been broken,
    and we have escaped.
Our help comes from the Lord.
    He is the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 124

A song of ascents. Of David.

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

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