Translations
A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
A Song of Ascents.
To You I lift my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the skies.
A Song of the Steps.
I lift my eyes to You, to You who are enthroned in the heavens.
A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
Footnotes
Shir HaMa'alot—literally 'A Song of the Goings-Up,' from the root alah, to ascend. This likely evokes the pilgrimage procession ascending to Jerusalem for the three great festivals, though ancient interpreters also connected it to the fifteen Temple steps. The word shamayim is rendered 'skies' in F.O.G. to honor the concrete, visible dome of ancient Israelite cosmology—the place where the One who rules is visibly above—whereas F.O.G.M. uses 'heavens' to draw out the theological weight of transcendent sovereignty implied by the enthroned Ruler on high.

