Pray for the Peace of Bethlehem – A Modern Psalm of Ascent

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of bread.”
Our feet are standing
within your barb-wired gates, O Bethlehem,
Bethlehem that is compacted within the walls.

Pray for the peace of Bethlehem.
Pray for the freedom of Palestine.

May they prosper who love you,
and they who love the Prince of Peace
born within your walls.

For the sake of my brothers and my comrades,
for the sake of my enemies too,
I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
I will seek your good.

(See Psalm 122)