PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXXIII — NISI QVIA DOMINVS

If the Lord Had Not Been With Us

Nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis is a national thanksgiving acknowledging that only God's help prevented total destruction. The imagery of flood and snare describes dangers overcome. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Vespers on Tuesdays. The confession 'Our help is in the name of the Lord' became a formulary for beginning prayer.

LATINE
Nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis, dicat nunc Israel:
Nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis, cum exsurgerent homines in nos,
Forte vivos deglutissent nos: cum irasceretur furor eorum in nos,
Forsitan aqua absorbuisset nos.
Torrentem pertransivit anima nostra: forsitan pertransisset anima nostra aquam intolerabilem.
Benedictus Dominus qui non dedit nos, in captionem dentibus eorum.
Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est de laqueo venantium.
Laqueus contritus est, et nos liberati sumus.
Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini, qui fecit caelum et terram.
ENGLISH
If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say:
If it had not been that the Lord was with us, when men rose up against us,
Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,
Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.
Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.
Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth.
Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers.
The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Thanksgiving for deliverance, Little Hours
CONTEXT
Psalm 124 in Hebrew numbering. Fifth Song of Ascents. The final verse became a liturgical formula: 'Our help is in the name of the Lord.'