Psalm 129

¹A song of ascents. Of David. If the Lord had not been on our side—let Israel now declare—

²“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

¹When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.

¹A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the Lord protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.

¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

¹³They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

¹A song of ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

⁸We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

⁸But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels.

⁹And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

¹A song of ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.

³³I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

²³I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”

⁷As when one plows and breaks up the soil, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

¹³⁷Righteous are You, O Lord, and upright are Your judgments.

²²Because of the loving devotion of the Lord we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.

⁶Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.

⁷We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the net is torn, and we have slipped away.

⁷To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.

³³You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

⁵The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah

⁶I say to the Lord, “You are my God.” Hear, O Lord, my cry for help.

¹³May the accusers of my soul be ashamed and consumed; may those who seek my harm be covered with scorn and disgrace.

³⁵‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”

³On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.

¹²So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.

²²this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.

⁴saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

⁵For with one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against You—

²For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.

⁷that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.

⁵This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the Lord.

⁶He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

⁶But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

²⁶Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.

²⁷Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.

⁸The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

¹⁰For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—

¹¹though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout—yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

⁶He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

⁷For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.

⁴Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.” “The Lord bless you,” they replied.

²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.