A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.
For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
A Song of Ascents. Of David. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side— let Israel now say—
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest,
Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.”
“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon; make the watch strong; set up watchmen; prepare the ambushes; for the Lord has both planned and done what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
A Song of Ascents. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
A Song of Ascents. In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.
A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.
He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’ “Now, my son, the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you.
His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.
A Song of Ascents. When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes; oil the shield! For thus the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees. When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently.” Then he who saw cried out: “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights. And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!” And he answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.”
A Song of Ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day;
Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”
“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
The watchmen found me as they went about in the city; they beat me, they bruised me, they took away my veil, those watchmen of the walls.
The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
One runner runs to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every side;
Of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.