'Lift' in the Bible

The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had left him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are standing, northward and southward and eastward and westward;

within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head (present you in public) and restore you to your position; and you will [again] put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand just as [you did] when you were his cupbearer.

within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and will hang you on a tree (gallows, pole), and [you will not so much as be given a burial, but] the birds will eat your flesh.”

Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission shall no man raise his hand [to do anything] or set his foot [to go anywhere] in all the land of Egypt [all classes of people shall submit to your authority].”

As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the sons of Israel may go through the middle of the sea on dry land.

If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you use a chisel on it, you will profane it.

The Lord lift up His countenance (face) upon you [with divine approval],And give you peace [a tranquil heart and life].’

You shall lift up a cake made of the first of your [ground grain which has been made into] dough as an offering [to the Lord]; as an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you lift it up.

They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”

Your offering shall be credited to you as the grain from the threshing floor or as the full produce from the wine vat.

“Behold, a people rises up like a lionessAnd lifts itself up like a lion;He will not lie down until he devours the preyAnd drinks the blood of the slain.”

Go up to the top of [Mount] Pisgah and raise your eyes toward the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross this Jordan.

And beware that you do not raise your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and let yourselves be led astray and worship them and serve them, [mere created bodies] which the Lord your God has allotted to [serve and benefit] all the peoples under the whole heaven.

You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly help him lift it up.

There you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them.

‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven,And say (swear an oath), as I live forever,

Then David told the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with instruments of music—harps, lyres, and cymbals—to play loudly and to raise sounds of joy [with their voices].

and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongdoings have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown to the heavens.

‘If I am wicked, woe to me [for judgment comes]!And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.For I am sated and filled with disgrace and the sight of my misery.

‘Should I lift my head up, You would hunt me like a lion;And again You would show Your marvelous power against me.

Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect,And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.

“They lift up their voices and sing to the tambourine and the lyreAnd rejoice to the sound of the flute.

Then you will have delight in the Almighty,And you will lift up your face to God.

“You lift me up on the wind and cause me to ride [upon it];And You toss me about in the tempest and dissolve me in the storm.

“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,So that an abundance of water will cover you?

Many are saying, “Oh, that we might see some good!”Lift up the light of Your face upon us, O Lord.

Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;Lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies;Rise up for me; You have commanded judgment and vindication.

Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord;See how I am afflicted by those who hate me,You who lift me up from the gates of death,

Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand [in judgment];Do not forget the suffering.

He rescues me from my enemies;Yes, You lift me up above those who rise up against me;You deliver me from the man of violence.

Lift up your heads, O gates,And be lifted up, ancient doors,That the King of glory may come in.

Lift up your heads, O gates,And lift them up, ancient doors,That the King of glory may come in.

Hear the voice of my supplication (specific requests, humble entreaties) as I cry to You for help,As I lift up my hands and heart toward Your innermost sanctuary (Holy of Holies).

Deliver me from those who practice wrongdoing,And save me from bloodthirsty men.

So will I bless You as long as I live;I will lift up my hands in Your name.

“I said to the arrogant, ‘Do not boast;’And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn [of self-glorification].

‘Do not lift up your [defiant and aggressive] horn on high,Do not speak with a stiff neck.’”

Make Your servant rejoice,For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul [all that I am—in prayer].

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,The floods have lifted up their voice;The floods lift up their pounding waves.

He will drink from the brook by the wayside;Therefore He will lift up His head [triumphantly].

I will lift up the cup of salvationAnd call on the name of the Lord.

And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments,Which I love;And I will meditate on Your statutes.

I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem]—From where shall my help come?

Unto you I lift up my eyes,O You who are enthroned in the heavens!

Lift up your hands to the sanctuaryAnd bless the Lord.

Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,For I trust in You.Teach me the way in which I should walk,For I lift up my soul to You.

for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up.

And He will judge between the nations,And will mediate [disputes] for many peoples;And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.Nation will not lift up the sword against nation,And never again will they learn war.

He will lift up a flag to [call] the distant nations [to bring His judgment on Judah],And will whistle for them from the ends of the earth;And indeed, they will come with great speed swiftly.

Is the axe able to lift itself over the one who chops with it?Is the saw able to magnify itself over the one who wields it?That would be like a club moving those who lift it,Or like a staff raising him who is not [made of] wood [like itself]!

The Lord of hosts will brandish a whip against them like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the [Red] Sea and He will lift it up the way He did in [the flight from] Egypt.

Then it will happen on that day that the LordWill again acquire with His hand a second timeThe remnant of His people, who will remain,From Assyria, from [Lower] Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush (Ethiopia), from Elam [in Persia], from Shinar [Babylonia], from Hamath [in Aram],And from the coastlands bordering the [Mediterranean] Sea.

They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy;They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the Lord.

“Now I will arise,” says the Lord.“Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted up.

It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh [the commander], whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left.’”

O Zion, herald of good news,Get up on a high mountain.O Jerusalem, herald of good news,Lift up your voice with strength,Lift it up, do not fear;Say to the cities of Judah,“Here is your God!”

Lift up your eyes on highAnd see who has created these heavenly bodies,The One who brings out their host by number,He calls them all by name;Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,Not one is missing.

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]Will gain new strength and renew their power;They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];They will run and not become weary,They will walk and not grow tired.

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,The villages where Kedar lives.Let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy,Let them shout joyfully from the tops of the mountains.

“Lift up your eyes and look around [at the returning exiles];All these gather together and they come to you [to rebuild you].As I live,” declares the Lord,“You [Zion] will indeed clothe yourself with all of them as jewels and tie them on as a bride.

This is what the Lord God says,“Listen carefully, I will lift up My hand to the [Gentile] nationsAnd set up My banner to the peoples;And they will bring your sons in the fold of their garments,And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

“Lift up your eyes to the heavens,Then look to the earth beneath;For the heavens will be torn to pieces and vanish like smoke,And the earth will wear out like a garmentAnd its inhabitants will die in like manner.But My salvation will be forever,And My righteousness (justice) [and faithfully fulfilled promise] will not be broken.

Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,Together they shout for joy;For they will see face to faceThe return of the Lord to Zion.

“Cry aloud, do not hold back;Lift up your voice like a trumpet,And declare to My people their transgressionAnd to the house of Jacob their sins.

So they will fear the name of the Lord from the westAnd His glory from the rising of the sun.For He will come in like a narrow, rushing streamWhich the breath of the Lord drives [overwhelming the enemy].

“Lift up your eyes around you and see;They all gather together, they come to you.Your sons will come from far away,And your daughters will be looked after at their side.

Go through, go through the gates,Clear the way for the people;Build up, build up the highway,Remove the stones, lift up a banner over the peoples.

“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see;Where have you not been violated?You sat by the road waiting [eagerly] for them [those man-made gods]Like an Arab [tribesman who waits to attack] in the desert,And you have desecrated the landWith your [vile] prostitution and your wickedness (disobedience to God).

“Therefore, do not pray for this people [of Judah] or lift up a cry or entreaty for them or make intercession to Me, for I do not hear you.

“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I shall not listen when they cry to Me in the time of their disaster.

“Lift up your eyes and seeThose coming from the north.Where is the flock that was given to you [to shepherd],Your beautiful flock?

so none of the survivors from the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to live there will survive, even though they lift up their souls in longing to return to the land of Judah, [the place] to which they long to return to live; none will return except a few refugees.’”

The Lord of hosts has sworn [an oath] by Himself, saying,“Surely I will fill you with men, as with [a swarm of] locusts [who strip the land clean],And they will lift up a song and shout of victory over you.”

“Arise, cry aloud in the night,At the beginning of the night watches;Pour out your heart like waterBefore the presence of the Lord;Lift up your hands to HimFor the life of your little onesWho are faint from hungerAt the head of every street.”

Let us lift up our hearts and our hands [in prayer]Toward God in heaven;

Then He said to me, “Son of man, now raise your eyes toward the north.” So I looked toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol (image) of jealousy at the entrance.

The prince who is among them will load his provisions and supplies on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to go out. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes.

so that the kingdom would be in subjection, unable to restore itself and rise again, but that by keeping his covenant it might continue.

In his right hand is the lot marked for Jerusalem: to set battering rams, to open the mouth calling for destruction, to lift up the voice with a war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to put up assault ramps, and to build siege walls.

Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your prostitution brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt [with longing] anymore.’

Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You eat meat with the blood in it and raise your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Should you take possession of the land?

“In those times many will rise up against the king of the South (Egypt); also the violent men among your own people will arise in order to fulfill the [earlier] visions, but they will fail.

My people are bent on turning from Me;Though the prophets call them to the One on high,None at all exalts Him.

And He will judge between many peoplesAnd render decisions for strong and distant nations.Then they shall hammer their swords into plowsharesAnd their spears into pruning hooks [so that the implements of war may become the tools of agriculture];Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,Nor shall they ever again train for war.

“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts,“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,And I will let the nations look at your nakedness [O Nineveh]And the kingdoms at your disgrace.

Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and said to me, “Now look up and see what this is going forth.”

And in that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will come and be gathered against it.

But He said to them, “What man is there among you who, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

The scribes and Pharisees tie up heavy loads [that are hard to bear] and place them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger [to make them lighter].

But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but was striking his chest [in humility and repentance], saying, ‘God, be merciful and gracious to me, the [especially wicked] sinner [that I am]!’

Now when these things begin to occur, stand tall and lift up your heads [in joy], because [suffering ends as] your redemption is drawing near.”

but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom once hidden [from man, but now revealed to us by God, that wisdom] which God predestined before the ages to our glory [to lift us into the glory of His presence].

Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose].