Psalm 123

¹A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

⁸But my eyes are fixed on You, O God the Lord. In You I seek refuge; do not leave my soul defenseless.

¹⁵My eyes are always on the Lord, for He will free my feet from the mesh.

⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.

¹³But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’

⁹So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

⁵I wait for the Lord; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.

⁶My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning—more than watchmen wait for the morning.

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

²⁶It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

¹⁵My eyes are always on the Lord, for He will free my feet from the mesh.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry.

²He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.

¹⁸I await Your salvation, O Lord.

¹²³My eyes fail, looking for Your salvation, and for Your righteous promise.

¹²⁴Deal with Your servant according to Your loving devotion, and teach me Your statutes.

¹For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul into the cave. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy, for in You my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter until the danger has passed.

¹¹The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

¹²I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

⁵⁰Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, which I bear in my heart from so many people—

⁵¹how Your enemies have taunted, O Lord, and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!

²before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”

³Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

¹For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved my distress; show me grace and hear my prayer.

³⁵The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

⁵¹The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.

⁵The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

³²When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”

¹¹Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists.

¹³when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

²⁹We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.