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Psalm 129

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me.
    Let all Israel repeat this:
From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me,
    but they have never defeated me.
My back is covered with cuts,
    as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.
But the Lord is good;
    he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.

May all who hate Jerusalem[a]
    be turned back in shameful defeat.
May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop,
    turning yellow when only half grown,
ignored by the harvester,
    despised by the binder.
And may those who pass by
    refuse to give them this blessing:
“The Lord bless you;
    we bless you in the Lord’s name.”

Footnotes

  1. 129:5 Hebrew Zion.

Psalm 129

Prayer for the Downfall of Israel’s Enemies

A Song of Ascents.

Often have they attacked me from my youth
    —let Israel now say—(A)
often have they attacked me from my youth,
    yet they have not prevailed against me.(B)
The plowers plowed on my back;
    they made their furrows long.
The Lord is righteous;
    he has cut the cords of the wicked.(C)
May all who hate Zion
    be put to shame and turned backward.(D)
Let them be like the grass on the housetops
    that withers before it grows up,(E)
with which reapers do not fill their hands
    or binders of sheaves their arms,
while those who pass by do not say,
    “The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
    We bless you in the name of the Lord!”(F)

Psalm 129

A song of ascents.

“They have greatly oppressed(A) me from my youth,”(B)
    let Israel say;(C)
“they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
    but they have not gained the victory(D) over me.
Plowmen have plowed my back
    and made their furrows long.
But the Lord is righteous;(E)
    he has cut me free(F) from the cords of the wicked.”(G)

May all who hate Zion(H)
    be turned back in shame.(I)
May they be like grass on the roof,(J)
    which withers(K) before it can grow;
a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,(L)
    nor one who gathers fill his arms.
May those who pass by not say to them,
    “The blessing of the Lord be on you;
    we bless you(M) in the name of the Lord.”