Psalms 123

1Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

1A gradual canticle. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say:

2Behold, 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.

2If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose up against us,

3Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

3Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,

4Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.

4Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.

5(not in this translation)

5Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.

6(not in this translation)

6Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth.

7(not in this translation)

7Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.

8(not in this translation)

8Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.