Psalm 129
Expanded Bible
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
129 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth].
(Let Israel ·repeat this [L say].)
2 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth],
but they have not ·defeated [overcome; prevailed over] me.
3 ·Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back [L The plowers plowed my back],
making ·long wounds [L their furrows long].
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he has ·set me free from those [L cut the cords of] wicked people.
5 Let those who hate ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]
be ·turned back in shame [L humiliated and turn back].
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof
that dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it ·to [L for the harvester to] fill a hand
or ·to make into a bundle [those who bind sheaves] to fill one’s arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the ·power [L name] of the Lord.”
Psalm 129
English Standard Version
They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth
A Song of (A)Ascents.
129 “Greatly[a] have they (B)afflicted me (C)from my youth”—
(D)let Israel now say—
2 “Greatly have they (E)afflicted me (F)from my youth,
(G)yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 (H)The plowers plowed (I)upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut (J)the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be (K)put to shame and turned backward!
6 Let them be like (L)the grass on the housetops,
which (M)withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
(N)“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We (O)bless you in the name of the Lord!”
Footnotes
- Psalm 129:1 Or Often; also verse 2
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
