Psalms 121:1

King James Version

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there?

Update Bible Version
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains: From where shall my help come?

New Century Version

A song for going up to worship.

I look up to the hills, but where does my help come from?

New English Translation

A song of ascents.

I look up toward the hills. From where does my help come?

Webster's Bible Translation
A Song of degrees. I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help.

World English Bible
<> I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?

Amplified Bible
I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem]— From where shall my help come?

English Standard Version

A Song of Ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The `title of the hundrid and twentithe salm. The song of greces. I reiside myn iyen to the hillis; fro whannus help schal come to me.

English Revised Version
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come?

Berean Standard Bible
A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

Contemporary English Version

(A song for worship.)

I look to the hills! Where will I find help?

American Standard Version

A Song of Ascents.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: From whence shall my help come?

Bible in Basic English
My eyes are lifted up to the hills: O where will my help come from?

Complete Jewish Bible
A song of ascents: If I raise my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come?

Darby Translation

A Song of degrees.

I lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: whence shall my help come?

Easy-to-Read Version

A song for going up to the Temple.

I look up to the hills, but where will my help really come from?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
A Song of Ascents.

King James Version (1611)
[A song of degrees.] I will lift vp mine eyes vnto the hilles: from whence commeth my helpe.

New Life Bible
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where will my help come from?

New Revised Standard

A Song of Ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?

Geneva Bible (1587)
I will lift mine eyes vnto the mouuntaines, from whence mine helpe shall come.

George Lamsa Translation
I WILL lift up mine eyes to the mountain from whence comes my help.

Good News Translation
I look to the mountains; where will my help come from?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I will lift up mine eyes, unto the mountains, From whence cometh my help!

Douay-Rheims Bible
(120-1) I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.

Revised Standard Version
A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I will lift vp myne eyes vnto the hilles: from whence my helpe shall come.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I lifted up mine eyes to the mountains, whence my help shall come.

Christian Standard Bible®
I lift my eyes toward the mountains.Where will my help come from?

Hebrew Names Version
<> I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?

Lexham English Bible

A song for the ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains; whence will my help come?

Literal Translation
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills; from where shall my help come?

Young's Literal Translation
A Song of the Ascents. I lift up mine eyes unto the hills, Whence doth my help come?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I lift vp myne eyes vnto the hilles, fro whence commeth my helpe?

THE MESSAGE
A Pilgrim Song I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God , who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

New American Standard Bible
I will raise my eyes to the mountains; From where will my help come?

New King James Version
I will lift up my eyes to the hills-- From whence comes my help?

New American Standard Bible (1995)

A Song of Ascents.

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?

Legacy Standard Bible
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;From where shall my help come?

Contextual Overview

¹ I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. ² My help cometh from the Lord , which made heaven and earth. ³ He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. ⁴ Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵ The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. ⁶ The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. ⁷ The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. ⁸ The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I will: etc. or, Shall I lift up my eyes to the hills, whence should my help come? Jeremiah 3:23

lift up: Psalms 2:6, Psalms 68:15, Psalms 68:16, Psalms 78:68, Psalms 87:1, Psalms 123:1, Isaiah 2:3

Reciprocal: Genesis 19:17 - Escape 1 Kings 20:23 - Their gods 2 Chronicles 20:12 - our eyes Psalms 13:4 - when Psalms 25:15 - Mine Ezekiel 18:6 - neither hath lifted Daniel 4:34 - lifted Hosea 13:9 - but Luke 9:16 - and looking John 17:1 - and lifted

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,.... Not to the hills and mountains in Judea, looking about to see if the inhabitants of them, or any bodies of men, appeared upon them to his help in distress; rather to the hills of Moriah and Zion, where the ark of God, the symbol of his presence, was, and to whom he looked for assistance and deliverance: or to heaven, the holy hill of the Lord, and to him that dwelleth there; see Psalms 3:2. The lifting up of the eyes is a prayer gesture, John 11:41; and is expressive of boldness and confidence in prayer, and of hope and expectation of help and salvation, Job 11:15; when, on the contrary, persons abashed and ashamed, hopeless and helpless, cannot look up, or lift up their eyes or face to God, Ezra 9:6. Some read the words, "I will lift up mine eyes upon the hills" f; standing there and looking up to the heavens, and God in the heavens; who is the most High over all the earth, higher than the highest, and above all gods. Others render them interrogatively, "shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills?" g to the idols worshipped on hills and mountains, and pray unto them, and expect help from them? No, I will not; salvation is not to be had from them, Jeremiah 3:23; or to the kings of the nations, as R. Obadiah interprets it; and to powerful kingdoms and states he was in alliance with, comparable to mountains and hills, Psalms 46:2? No, I will not; "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes", Psalms 118:9. And so the following clause may be read,

from whence shall my help come? h not from hills and mountains; not from men, for vain is the help of man; not from kings and princes, the great men of the earth, nor from the most powerful nations; but from the Lord, as in Psalms 121:2, which may be an answer to this.

f אל ההרים "super montes", Vatablus, Amama; so Kimchi. g אשא עיני "attollerem oculos meos ad illos montes?" Junius Tremellius "attollamne", c. Piscator so Gejerus and Ainsworth. h So Musculus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will lift up mine eyes - Margin, “Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? Whence should my help come?” The expression would properly denote a condition where there was danger; when no help or aid was visible; and when the eyes were turned to the quarter from which help might be expected to come. What the danger was cannot now be ascertained.

Unto the hills - Hebrew, the mountains. To the quarter from where I look for assistance. This (as has been shown in the Introduction) may refer

(1) to the mountains from where one in danger expected help; or

(2) to heaven, considered as high, and as the abode of God; or

(3) to the hills on which Jerusalem was built, as the place where God dwelt, and from where aid was expected.

The third of these is the most probable. The first would be applicable to a state of war only, and the second is forced and unnatural. Adopting the third interpretation, the language is natural, and makes it proper to be used at all times, since it indicates a proper looking to God as he manifests himself to people, particularly in the church.

From whence cometh my help - A more literal rendering would be, “Whence cometh my help?” This accords best with the usage of the Hebrew word, and agrees well with the connection. It indicates a troubled and anxious state of mind - a mind that asks, Where shall I look for help? The answer is found in the following verse.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

PSALM CXXI

The resolution of a godly man, 1, 2.

The safety and prosperity of such, as they and theirs shall

be under the continual protection of God, 3-8.

NOTES ON PSALM CXXI

This appears to be a prayer of the Jews in their captivity, who are solicitous for their restoration. It is in the form of a dialogue.

Ver. Psalms 121:1-2. The person who worships God speaks the two first verses, "I will lift up mine eyes - my help cometh," - Psalms 121:1-2.

Ver. Psalms 121:3. The ministering priest answers him, "He will not suffer thy foot to be moved." "He that keepeth thee will not slumber," Psalms 121:3.

To which the worshipper answers, that he knows that "he who keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep," Psalms 121:4; but he seems to express a doubt whether he shall be an object of the Divine attention.

Ver. Psalms 121:5, c. The priest resumes and, to the conclusion of the Psalm, gives him the most positive assurances of God's favour and protection.

Verse Psalms 121:1. Unto the hills — Jerusalem was built upon a mountain; and Judea was a mountainous country; and the Jews, in their several dispersions, turned towards Jerusalem when they offered up their prayers to God.