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.

Psalms 129

A prayer for protection

1 Since the time I was young,
enemies have often attacked!
Let everyone in Israel say:

2 “Since the time I was young,
enemies have often attacked!
But they have not defeated me,

3 though my back is like a field
that has just been ploughed.”

4 The Lord always does right,
and he has set me free
from the ropes
of those cruel people.

5 I pray that all who hate
the city of Zion
will be made ashamed
and forced to turn and run.

6 May they be like grass
on the flat roof of a house,
grass that dries up
as soon as it sprouts.

7 Don't let them be like wheat
gathered in bundles.

8 And don't let anyone
who passes by say to them,
“The Lord bless you!
I give you my blessing
in the name of the Lord.”