< Psalms 129 >

1 A Song of the Ascents. Often they distressed me from my youth, Pray, let Israel 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 Often they distressed me from my youth, Yet they have not prevailed over me.
Many enemies have attacked from the time I was young, but they never defeated me.
3 Over my back have ploughers ploughed, They have made long their furrows.
They beat me on my back, leaving long furrows as if it had been ploughed by a farmer.
4 Jehovah [is] righteous, He hath cut asunder cords of the wicked.
But the Lord does what is right: he has cut me free from the ropes of the wicked.
5 Confounded and turn backward do all hating Zion.
May everyone who hates Zion be driven back in humiliating defeat.
6 They are as grass of the roofs, That before it was drawn out withereth,
May they be like grass that grows on a roof that withers before it can be harvested,
7 That hath not filled the hand of a reaper, And the bosom of a binder of sheaves.
There's not enough even for a reaper to hold, not enough even for the binder to bind.
8 And the passers by have not said, 'The blessing of Jehovah [is] on you, We blessed you in the Name of Jehovah!'
May passers-by not say to them, “The blessing of the Lord be on you; we bless you in the name of the Lord.”

< Psalms 129 >