Psalms 129

1 A song of ascents. ‘Sore have they vexed me from youth’ thus let Israel say

A song of ascents. Many a time they have persecuted me from my youth— let Israel now declare—

2 ‘Sore have they vexed me from youth, but they have not prevailed against me.

many a time they have persecuted me from my youth, but they have not prevailed against me.

3 ‘The ploughers ploughed on my back, they made their furrows long.

The plowmen plowed over my back; they made their furrows long.

4 But the Lord, who is righteous, has cut the cords of the wicked.’

The LORD is righteous; He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.

5 Let all who are haters of Zion be put to shame and defeated.

May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame.

6 May they be as the grass on the house-top, which withers before it shoots up;

May they be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can grow,

7 which fills not the arms of the reaper, nor the lap of the binder of sheaves

unable to fill the hands of the reaper, or the arms of the binder of sheaves.

8 whereof no one says as they pass, ‘The blessing of God be upon you.’ In the name of the Lord we bless you.

May none who pass by say to them, “The blessing of the LORD be on you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.”