Bible/Psalms/123

Psalms 123:1

A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

KJV

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A Song of Ascents. To you I do lift up my eyes, you who sit in the heavens.

Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

To you lift I up my eyes, O you that dwell in the heavens.

123:2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

What does Psalms 123:1 mean?

Psalms 123:1 is a verse in the book of Psalms, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include שִׁיר (shîyr), מַעֲלָה (maʻălâh), נָשָׂא (nâsâʼ).

Hebrew interlinear

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A
Songשִׁירshîyr/sheer/H7892a song; abstractly, singing
of
degrees.מַעֲלָהmaʻălâh/mah-al-aw'/H4609elevation, i.e. the act (literally, a journey to a higher place, figuratively, a thought arising), or (concretely) the condition (literally, a step or grademark, figuratively, a superiority of station); specifically a climactic progression (in certain Psalms)
Unto
thee
lift
I
upנָשָׂאnâsâʼ/naw-saw'/H5375to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
mine
eyes,עַיִןʻayin/ah'-yin/H5869an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy, a fountain (as the eye of the landscape)
O
thou
that
dwellestיָשַׁבyâshab/yaw-shab'/H3427properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry
in
the
heavens.שָׁמַיִםshâmayim/shaw-mah'-yim/H8064the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve)

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Psalms 123:1.

Genesis 13:10

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

Genesis 13:14

And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

Genesis 13:6

And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

Genesis 18:2

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

Genesis 21:16

And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

Genesis 22:13

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Genesis 22:4

Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

Genesis 24:3

And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

Frequently asked questions

What does Psalms 123:1 say?

Psalms 123:1 (King James Version) reads: "A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens."

Is Psalms 123:1 in the Old or New Testament?

Psalms 123:1 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Psalms.

Reflect

As you read Psalms 123:1, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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