Chapter 120
This psalm rebukes slanderers, describing how the deadly effect of slander reaches even further than weapons.
1A song of ascents. I have called out to the Lord in my distress, and He answered me.
2O Lord, rescue my soul from the lips of falsehood, from a deceitful tongue.
3What can He give you, and what [further restraint] can He add to you, O deceitful tongue?
4[You resemble] the sharp arrows of a mighty one, and the coals of broom-wood.
5Woe unto me that I sojourned among Meshech, that I dwelt beside the tents of Kedar.
6Too long has my soul dwelt among those who hate peace.
7I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.
Chapter 121
This psalm alludes to the Lower Paradise, from which one ascends to the Higher Paradise. It also speaks of how God watches over us.
1A song of ascents. I lift my eyes to the mountains-from where will my help come?
2My help will come from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.
3He will not let your foot falter; your guardian does not slumber.
4Indeed, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
5The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your protective shade at your right hand.
6The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will guard your soul.
8The Lord will guard your going and your coming from now and for all time.
Chapter 122
The psalmist sings the praises of Jerusalem and tells of the miracles that happened there.
1A song of ascents by David. I rejoiced when they said to me, "Let us go to the House of the Lord.”
2Our feet were standing within your gates, O Jerusalem;
3Jerusalem that is built like a city in which [all Israel] is united together.
4For there the tribes went up, the tribes of God-as enjoined upon Israel-to offer praise to the Name of the Lord.
5For there stood the seats of justice, the thrones of the house of David.
6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may those who love you have peace.
7May there be peace within your walls, serenity within your mansions.
8For the sake of my brethren and friends, I ask that there be peace within you.
9For the sake of the House of the Lord our God, I seek your well-being.
Chapter 123
The psalmist laments the length of time we have already suffered in exile.
1A song of ascents. To You have I lifted my eyes, You Who are enthroned in heaven.
2Indeed, as the eyes of servants are turned to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so are our eyes turned to the Lord our God, until He will be gracious to us.
3Be gracious to us, Lord, be gracious to us, for we have been surfeited with humiliation.
4Our soul has been overfilled with the derision of the complacent, with the scorn of the arrogant.
Chapter 124
1A song of ascents by David. Were it not for the Lord Who was with us-let Israel declare-
2were it not for the Lord Who was with us when men rose up against us,
3then they would have swallowed us alive in their burning rage against us.
4Then the waters would have inundated us, the torrent would have swept over our soul;
5then the raging waters would have surged over our soul.
6Blessed is the Lord, Who did not permit us to be prey for their teeth.
7Our soul is like a bird which has escaped from the fowler's snare; the snare broke and we escaped.
8Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Chapter 125
1A song of ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion which never falters, but abides forever.
2Mountains surround Jerusalem, and the Lord surrounds His people from this time and forever.
3For the rod of wickedness will never come to rest upon the lot of the righteous; therefore the righteous need not stretch their hand to iniquity.
4Be beneficent, O Lord, to the good and to those who are upright in their hearts.
5But as for those that turn to their perverseness, may the Lord lead them with the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel.
Chapter 126
The psalmist speaks of the future, comparing our Divine service in exile to one who sows arid land, then cries and begs God to send rain upon it so that the seed not be wasted. When he merits to reap the crop, he offers thanks to God.
1A song of ascents. When the Lord will return the exiles of Zion, we will have been like dreamers.
2Then our mouth will be filled with laughter, and our tongue with songs of joy; then will they say among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for these.”
3The Lord has done great things for us; we were joyful.
4Lord, return our exiles as streams to arid soil.
5Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
6He goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed; he will surely return with songs of joy, carrying his sheaves.
Chapter 127
King David instructs his generation, and especially his son Solomon, to be sure that all one's actions be for the sake of Heaven. He also criticizes those who toil day and night in pursuit of a livelihood.
1A song of ascents for Solomon. If the Lord does not build a house, then its builders labor upon it in vain. If the Lord will not guard a city, the vigilance of its watchman is in vain.
2It is in vain for you, you who rise early, who sit up late, and who eat the bread of tension, for in fact He gives His loved ones sleep.
3Behold, the heritage of the Lord is children; the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of youth.
5Fortunate is the man who has his quiver full of them; they will not find themselves shamed when they speak with enemies in public places.
Chapter 128
This psalm extols one who enjoys the fruits of his own labor, avoiding theft and deception, even refusing gifts. It also describes behavior appropriate to the God-fearing.
1A song of ascents. Fortunate is every man who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.
2When you eat of the labor of your hands, you will be happy, and you will have goodness.
3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the inner chambers of your house; your children will be like olive saplings around your table.
4Behold, so will be blessed the man who fears the Lord.
5May the Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you see the goodness of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6And may you see children [born] to your children; peace upon Israel.
Chapter 129
The psalmist laments the troubles of Israel.
1A song of ascents. Much have they persecuted me from my youth on. Let Israel declare it now-
2"Much have they persecuted me from my youth on, [but] they have not prevailed against me.”
3The plowmen plowed upon my back; they wished to make their furrow long.
4But the Lord is just; He cut the cords of the lawless.
5They will be humiliated and will be turned back, all the haters of Zion.
6They will be as grass upon the rooftops that withers before one plucks it,
7wherewith the reaper has never filled his hand, nor the sheaf-binder his arm;
8and of which the passers-by never have said: "The blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless you in the name of the Lord."
Chapter 130
The psalmist prays for an end to this long exile.
1A song of ascents. Out of the depths I call to You, O Lord.
2My Lord, hearken to my voice; let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleas.
3God, if You were to preserve iniquities, my Lord, who could survive?
4But forgiveness is with You, that You may be held in awe.
5I hope in the Lord; my soul hopes, and I long for His word.
6My soul yearns for the Lord more than those awaiting the morning wait for the morning.
7Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is kindness; with Him there is abounding deliverance.
8And He will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Chapter 131
In this prayer, David declares that never in the course of his life was he haughty, nor did he pursue greatness or worldly pleasures.
1A song of ascents, by David. O Lord, my heart was not proud, nor were my eyes haughty; I did not seek matters that were too great and too wondrous for me.
2Surely I put my soul at peace and soothed it like a weaned child with his mother; my soul was like a weaned child.
3Let Israel hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.
Chapter 132
David composed this psalm while he and the elders of Israel wore sackcloth, in mourning over the plague that had descended upon the land, and their being distant from the Holy Temple. David therefore offers intense prayers, entreating God to remember the hardship and sacrifice he endured for the sake of the Temple.
1 A song of ascents. O Lord, remember unto David all his suffering,
2how he swore to the Lord, and vowed to the Mighty Power of Jacob:
3"I will not enter into the tent of my house; I will not go up into the bed that is spread for me;
4I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids;
5until I will have found a place for the Lord, a resting place for the Mighty Power of Jacob.”
6Lo, we heard of it in Ephrath; we found it in the field of the forest.
7We will come to His resting places; we will prostrate ourselves at His footstool.
8Ascend, O Lord, to Your resting place, You and the Ark of Your might.
9May Your priests clothe themselves in righteousness, and may Your pious ones sing joyous songs.
10For the sake of David Your servant, turn not away the face of Your anointed.
11For the Lord has sworn to David a truth from which He will never retreat: "From the fruit of your womb will I set for you upon the throne.
12If your sons will keep My covenant and this testimony of Mine which I will teach them, then their sons, too, will sit on the throne for you until the end of time.
13For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation.
14This is My resting place to the end of time. Here will I dwell, for I have desired it.
15I will abundantly bless her sustenance; I will satisfy her needy with bread.
16I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her pious ones will sing joyous songs.
17There I will cause David's power to flourish; there I have prepared a lamp for My anointed.
18His enemies will I clothe with shame, but upon him, his crown will blossom."
Chapter 133
1 A song of ascents, by David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together.
2Like the precious oil [placed] upon the head, flowing [in abundance] down the beard, the beard of Aaron which rests upon his garments.
3Like the dew of Hermon which comes down upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord has commanded blessing, life unto eternity.
Chapter 134
The psalmist exhorts the scholarly and pious to rise from their beds at night, and go to the House of God.
1 A song of ascents. Behold: Bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand in the House of the Lord in the nights.
2Lift up your hands in holiness and bless the Lord.
3May the Lord, Who makes heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.
Tehillim Ohel Yoseph Yitzchok,
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