Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

A Song of (A)Ascents.

123 To you I (B)lift up my eyes,
    O you who are (C)enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he has mercy upon us.

(D)Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of (E)contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
    of (F)the scorn of (G)those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of (H)the proud.

Psalm 123

A song of ascents.

I lift up my eyes to you,
    to you who sit enthroned(A) in heaven.
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
    as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord(B) our God,
    till he shows us his mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
    for we have endured no end of contempt.
We have endured no end
    of ridicule from the arrogant,
    of contempt from the proud.

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of (A)Ascents. Of Solomon.

127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord (B)watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious (C)toil;
    for he gives to his (D)beloved (E)sleep.

Behold, (F)children are a heritage from the Lord,
    (G)the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of (H)a warrior
    are the children[a] of one's youth.
Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies (I)in the gate.[b]

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 127:4 Or sons
  2. Psalm 127:5 Or They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate

Psalm 127

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless the Lord builds(A) the house,
    the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches(B) over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
    and stay up late,
toiling for food(C) to eat—
    for he grants sleep(D) to[a] those he loves.(E)

Children are a heritage from the Lord,
    offspring a reward(F) from him.
Like arrows(G) in the hands of a warrior
    are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
    whose quiver is full of them.(H)
They will not be put to shame
    when they contend with their opponents(I) in court.(J)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 127:2 Or eat— / for while they sleep he provides for