Psalms 129

1 A Song of the going up. Great have been my troubles from the time when I was young (let Israel now say);

A song for pilgrims going up to Jerusalem. Many enemies have attacked from the time I was young. Let everyone in Israel say:

2 Great have been my troubles from the time when I was young, but my troubles have not overcome me.

Many enemies have attacked from the time I was young, but they never defeated me.

3 The ploughmen were ploughing on my back; long were the wounds they made.

They beat me on my back, leaving long furrows as if it had been ploughed by a farmer.

4 The Lord is true: the cords of the evil-doers are broken in two.

But the Lord does what is right: he has cut me free from the ropes of the wicked.

5 Let all the haters of Zion be shamed and turned back.

May everyone who hates Zion be driven back in humiliating defeat.

6 Let them be like the grass on the house-tops, which is dry before it comes to full growth.

May they be like grass that grows on a roof that withers before it can be harvested,

7 He who gets in the grain has no use for it; and they do not make bands of it for the grain-stems.

There's not enough even for a reaper to hold, not enough even for the binder to bind.

8 And those who go by do not say, The blessing of the Lord be on you; we give you blessing in the name of the Lord.

May passers-by not say to them, “The blessing of the Lord be on you; we bless you in the name of the Lord.”