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He will not allow your foot to slip; He who watches over you will not slumber.
Psalms 121:3 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.
  • KJV He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
  • BSB He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.
  • NKJV He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
  • NLT He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God will not let your foot slip; your Keeper never slumbers. God's vigilant care never lapses.

Overview

The psalmist assures the pilgrim that God steadies his steps and watches without ever dozing. Unlike pagan deities thought to sleep, the true God is unfailingly attentive. This unsleeping care is a comfort to believers, who are kept by the One who watches over them in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Prov 3:26for Yahweh will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being taken.
  • Prov 3:23Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won’t stumble.
  • 1 Sam 2:9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; for no man shall prevail by strength.
  • Ps 91:12They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.
  • 1 Pet 1:5who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
  • Isa 27:3I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day.
  • Ps 127:1A Song of Ascents. By Solomon. Unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.
  • Ps 66:9who preserves our life among the living, and doesn’t allow our feet to be moved.
  • Prov 2:8that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his saints.
  • Ps 41:2Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 121:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 121:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.