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O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Psalms 30:3 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh, you have brought up my soul from Sheol. You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
  • BSB O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.
  • NKJV O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
  • NASB Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.
  • NLT You brought me up from the grave, O Lord. You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

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 brought David's soul up from Sheol and kept him from the pit. It celebrates rescue from the brink of death.

Overview

David describes deliverance so complete it is like being raised from the realm of the dead. God preserved his life when death seemed certain. This rescue from the pit anticipates the resurrection, where Christ conquers death itself for His people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Ps 16:10For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
  • Ps 86:13For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
  • Ps 28:1Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
  • Isa 38:17–18Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
  • Jonah 2:4–6Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
  • Ps 40:1–2I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
  • Ps 71:20Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
  • Job 33:19–22He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
  • Ps 56:13For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
  • Ps 116:8For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
  • Job 33:28He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

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 30:3YouTube · 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 30:3 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.