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129 (Shir HaMa’alot) Many a time have they afflicted me from my ne’ur, may Yisroel now say;

Many a time have they afflicted me from my ne’ur (youth); yet they have not prevailed against me.

The choreshim (plowers) plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.

Hashem is tzaddik; He hath cut asunder the cords of the resha’im.

Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Tziyon [i.e, all anti-Semites].

Let them be as the khatzir (grass) upon the housetops, which withereth before it groweth up;

With it the kotzer (reaper) filleth not his yad; nor he that gathereth sheaves, his bosom.

Neither do they which go by say, Birkat Hashem be upon you; we bless you b’Shem Hashem.

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—
“Greatly have they (E)afflicted me (F)from my youth,
    (G)yet they have not prevailed against me.
(H)The plowers plowed (I)upon my back;
    they made long their furrows.”
The Lord is righteous;
    he has cut (J)the cords of the wicked.
May all who hate Zion
    be (K)put to shame and turned backward!
Let them be like (L)the grass on the housetops,
    which (M)withers before it grows up,
with which the reaper does not fill his hand
    nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
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

  1. Psalm 129:1 Or Often; also verse 2

129 1 He admonisheth the Church to rejoice though it be afflicted. 4 For by the righteous Lord it shall be delivered. 6 And the enemies for all their glorious show, shall suddenly be destroyed.

A song of degrees.

They have oftentimes afflicted me from my youth (may [a]Israel now say)

They have oftentimes afflicted me from my youth: but they could not prevail against me.

The plowers plowed upon my back, and made long furrows.

But the [b]righteous Lord hath cut the cords of the wicked.

They that hate Zion, shall be all ashamed and turned backward.

[c]They shall be as the grass on the house tops, which withereth afore it cometh forth.

Whereof the mower filleth not his hand, neither the gleaner his lap:

[d]Neither they which go by, say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you, or, We bless you in the Name of the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 129:1 The Church now afflicted ought to remember how her condition hath ever been such from the beginning to be molested most grievously by the wicked: yet in time it hath ever been delivered.
  2. Psalm 129:4 Because God is righteous, he cannot but plague his adversary, and deliver his, as oxen out of the plough.
  3. Psalm 129:6 The enemies that lift themselves most high, and as it were approach near to the Sun, are consumed with the heat of God’s wrath, because they are not grounded in godly humility.
  4. Psalm 129:8 That is, the wicked shall perish, and none shall pass for them.

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.”