< Psalms 129 >
1 A song for pilgrims going up to Jerusalem. Many enemies have attacked from the time I was young. Let everyone in Israel say:
A Song of degrees. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth — oh let Israel say —
2 Many enemies have attacked from the time I was young, but they never defeated me.
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 They beat me on my back, leaving long furrows as if it had been ploughed by a farmer.
The ploughers ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows.
4 But the Lord does what is right: he has cut me free from the ropes of the wicked.
Jehovah is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 May everyone who hates Zion be driven back in humiliating defeat.
Let them be ashamed and turned backward, all that hate Zion;
6 May they be like grass that grows on a roof that withers before it can be harvested,
Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops, which withereth before it is plucked up,
7 There's not enough even for a reaper to hold, not enough even for the binder to bind.
Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom;
8 May passers-by not say to them, “The blessing of the Lord be on you; we bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Neither do the passers-by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; we bless you in the name of Jehovah!