Psalm 126 (JPS 1917)
A Song of Ascents about return and about sowing in tears and reaping in joy. It is sung before the Grace after Meals on Sabbaths and festivals.
English · The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text (JPS), 1917
A Song of Ascents.
When the LORD brought back those that returned to Zion,
We were like unto them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing;
Then said they among the nations:
'The LORD hath done great things with these.'
The LORD hath done great things with us;
We are rejoiced.
Turn our captivity, O LORD,
As the streams in the dry land.
They that sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
Though he goeth on his way weeping that beareth the measure of seed,
He shall come home with joy, bearing his sheaves.
Jewish Publication Society of America, 1917. Published 1917, before 1929, US public domain. Retrieved and verified 2026-09-17. Source
Hebrew · Tanach with Nikkud, a digital edition of the Leningrad Codex, 2026
שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת בְּשׁוּב יְהוָה אֶת־שִׁיבַת צִיּוֹן הָיִינוּ כְּחֹלְמִים׃
אָז יִמָּלֵא שְׂחוֹק פִּינוּ וּלְשׁוֹנֵנוּ רִנָּה אָז יֹאמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם הִגְדִּיל יְהוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם־אֵלֶּה׃
הִגְדִּיל יְהוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת עִמָּנוּ הָיִינוּ שְׂמֵחִים׃
שׁוּבָה יְהוָה אֶת־שבותנו [שְׁבִיתֵנוּ] כַּאֲפִיקִים בַּנֶּגֶב׃
הַזֹּרְעִים בְּדִמְעָה בְּרִנָּה יִקְצֹרוּ׃
הָלוֹךְ יֵלֵךְ וּבָכֹה נֹשֵׂא מֶשֶׁךְ־הַזָּרַע בֹּא־יָבוֹא בְרִנָּה נֹשֵׂא אֲלֻמֹּתָיו׃
Sefaria, from the Unicode/XML Leningrad Codex at tanach.us, 2026. Tanach.us states that all biblical Hebrew text on its site may be viewed or copied without restriction, and Sefaria labels this version Public Domain. Retrieved and verified 2026-09-17. Source
How this text was verified · How the Hebrew was verified
Wording and scope vary between editions and between communities, so each edition here is named and this entry makes no claim about which form is right in a given setting. The English keeps the line breaks of one digitisation of the 1917 volume. The second, which it was checked against, stores each verse as running text, so it confirms the words and cannot confirm where a line ends.