Psalm 129

1  Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up, Let Israel now say,

2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up: Yet they have not prevailed against me.

3 The plowers plowed upon my back; They made long their furrows.

4 Jehovah is righteous: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

5 Let them be put to shame and turned backward, All they that hate Zion.

6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, Which withereth before it groweth up;

7 Wherewith the reaper filleth not his hand, Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

8 Neither do they that go by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; We bless you in the name of Jehovah.

Psalm 129

A song of ascents.

1 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,”
let Israel say.

2 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not defeated me.

3 The plowers plowed my back;
they made their furrows long.

4 The Lord is just;
he cut the ropes of the wicked.”

5 May all who hate Zion
be humiliated and turned back!

6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops
which withers before one can even pull it up,

7 which cannot fill the reaper’s hand,
or the lap of the one who gathers the grain!

8 Those who pass by will not say,
“May you experience the Lord’s blessing!
We pronounce a blessing on you in the name of the Lord.”