1 A Canticle in steps. I have lifted up my eyes to you, who dwells in the heavens. 2 Behold, as the eyes of the servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so our eyes are upon the Lord our God, until he may be merciful to us. 3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us. For we have been filled with utter disdain. 4 For our soul has been greatly filled. We are the disgrace of those who have abundance and the disdain of the arrogant.
Psalms · Catholic Public Domain Version
Psalm 122 (123) Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · Psalm 123 · About the recordings
Notes on this text (4)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
- Psalms follow the Greek/Latin numbering, with the psalm titles counted as verse 1 (as in the Vulgate).
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
Cross references (4)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info. References use English (Hebrew-based) verse numbers; links open the passage in CPDV.
- 1 Psalm 121:1; Psalm 141:8; Psalm 25:15; Psalm 2:4; Luke 18:13
- 2 Psalm 130:5–6; Lamentations 3:25–26; Psalm 25:15; Psalm 40:1–3; Genesis 49:18
- 3 Psalm 57:1; Luke 18:11–13; Psalm 89:50–51; Nehemiah 4:2–4; Psalm 4:1
- 4 Psalm 119:51; Job 12:5; Acts 17:32; Isaiah 32:11; 1 Corinthians 4:13
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations). Verse numbers below follow the Hebrew/English numbering: 123.
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
This Psalm is a "Song of degrees;" as we have often said to you, for these degrees are not of descent, but of ascent. He therefore longeth to ascend. And whither doth he wish to ascend, save into heaven? What meaneth, into heaven? Doth he wish to ascend that he may be with the sun, moon, and stars?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
… and from seducing whom he is restrained by that chain and imprisonment; but they are used in conformity with that usage frequently employed in Scripture and exemplified in the psalm, "So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until He have mercy upon us," --not as if the eyes of His servants would no longer wait upon the Lord …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Do we think we can say, "To Thee have I lifted up my soul, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens"? But burdened as we are with so great a weight, under which we groan, how shall I lift up my soul unless He lift it with me who laid His own down for me?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)