Psalm 121:1
New International Version
A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?

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

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

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

King James Bible
A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

New King James Version
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help?

New American Standard Bible
A Song of Ascents. I will raise my eyes to the mountains; From where will my help come?

NASB 1995
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?

NASB 1977
I Will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come?

Legacy Standard Bible
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?

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

Christian Standard Bible
A song of ascents. I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A song of ascents. I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?

American Standard Version
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: From whence shall my help come?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
I shall lift my eyes to the hills; from where will come my helper?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
A Song of Degrees. I lifted up mine eyes to the mountains, whence my help shall come.

Contemporary English Version
I look to the hills! Where will I find help?

Douay-Rheims Bible
I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall 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?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
[A song for going up to worship.] I look up toward the mountains. Where can I find help?

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

International Standard Version
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains— from where will my help come?

JPS Tanakh 1917
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: From whence shall my help come?

Literal Standard Version
A SONG OF THE ASCENTS. I lift up my eyes to the hills, | From where does my help come?

Majority Standard Bible
A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

New American Bible
A song of ascents. I raise my eyes toward the mountains. From whence shall come my help?

NET Bible
A song of ascents. I look up toward the hills. From where does my help come?

New Revised Standard Version
I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?

New Heart English Bible
[A Song of Ascents.] I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?

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
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?

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

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
I Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills
1A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.…

Cross References
2 Chronicles 20:12
Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."

Psalm 11:1
In the LORD I take refuge. So how can you say to me, "Flee to your mountain like a bird!

Psalm 87:1
His foundation is on the holy mountains.

Psalm 123:1
I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.

Isaiah 40:26
Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.


Treasury of Scripture

I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from where comes my help.

title.

Psalm 120:1
A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

I will, etc.

Jeremiah 3:23
Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

lift up

Psalm 2:6
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

Psalm 68:15,16
The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan…

Psalm 78:68
But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.

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Psalm 121
1. The great safety of the godly, who put their trust in God's protection














(1) Whence.--Our version is certainly incorrect in following the LXX. and Vulg. in making whence a relative. The Hebrew word is always interrogative; even in Joshua 2:4 it is indirectly interrogative. But the margin is hardly right in making the whole verse interrogative. Render, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills. Whence comes my help? The hills are those on which Jerusalem is built, the plural being understood, as in Psalm 87:1. (See Note.) This gaze of hope does not absolutely decide the standpoint of the poet. He might have been like Ezekiel (Ezekiel 6:2) when bidden to turn "towards the mountains of Israel" in the distant plain of Mesopotamia; or he may have been close on the end of the pilgrim journey, and actually under the sacred hills. But wherever he stands, this question is not one of doubt; he knows, as in Psalm 3:4; Psalm 14:7, that help will come from God's holy hill "out of Zion." He puts the question for the sake of the emphatic answer in the next verse. Possibly, as suggested by the marginal rendering and reference, the poet may in his mind have been contrasting the confidence with which a worshipper of Jehovah might look up to the sacred city on the crest of the holy hill with that superstition and idolatry which was associated with so many hills and high places in Canaan. If this is so, the best commentary, both on the poetry and the religion of the psalm, is to be found in Mr. Ruskin's fascinating discourses on mountains in "Modern Painters," their influence on the ancient, mediaeval, and modern mind, and the part they have played alike in the mythology of the pagan times and the religion of the Christian world. There must also be added, in connection with the feeling of the Jew, the part his mountains played as a barrier of defence (Psalm 125:2), and as heights of observation from which to watch for the messengers of peace (Isaiah 52:7; Nahum 1:15). . . . Verse 1. - I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. The "holy hills," that stand round about Jerusalem, are intended (Psalm 87:1; Psalm 125:2). There God had "promised his blessing, even life forevermore" (Psalm 133:3). From whence cometh my help. Most modern critics regard this clause as interrogative, and translate, "Whence is it that my help shall come?" But "the question is only asked to give more effect to the answer" (Cheyne).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
A Song
שִׁ֗יר (šîr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7892: A song, singing

of Ascents.
לַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת (lam·ma·‘ă·lō·wṯ)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4609: Elevation, the act, the condition, a climactic progression

I lift up
אֶשָּׂ֣א (’eś·śā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

my eyes
עֵ֭ינַי (‘ê·nay)
Noun - cdc | first person common singular
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the hills.
הֶהָרִ֑ים (he·hā·rîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2022: Mountain, hill, hill country

From where
מֵ֝אַ֗יִן (mê·’a·yin)
Preposition-m | Adverb
Strong's 370: Whence?

does my help
עֶזְרִֽי׃ (‘ez·rî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5828: A help, helper

come?
יָבֹ֥א (yā·ḇō)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go


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OT Poetry: Psalm 121:1 A Song of Ascents (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 120:7
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