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Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever.
Psalms 125:2 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so Yahweh surrounds his people from this time forward and forever more.
  • KJV As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
  • BSB As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.
  • NKJV As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.
  • NASB As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time and forever.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Just as mountains encircle Jerusalem, Yahweh surrounds His people for protection, now and forever. It assures believers of God's constant, enveloping care.

Overview

The pilgrim sees the hills ringing Jerusalem and draws a picture of God's guarding presence around His people. This protection is permanent, reaching from the present into eternity. The same encircling faithfulness is ours in Christ, who keeps His sheep so that none is lost.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Zech 2:5For I,’ says Yahweh, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her.
  • Ps 121:8Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
  • Isa 4:5Yahweh will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.
  • John 10:28–29I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
  • Ps 34:7Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
  • Deut 33:27The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’
  • Lam 4:12The kings of the earth didn’t believe, neither did all the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 125:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 125:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.