129 Since I was young, my enemies have often attacked me.
Israel's people now answer:
2 ‘They have often attacked me since I was young,
but they have not won against me.
3 They hit my back with whips.
They made long marks on it,
like farmers who are ploughing their fields.
4 But the Lord is righteous.
He has made me free from those cruel people.’
5 I pray that everyone who hates Zion's people will be ashamed.
Then they will have to turn around and go back.
6 May they be useless, like grass that grows on a roof.
It dies before it can grow tall!
7 A gardener cannot use it.
A farmer will not keep it. [ a ]
8 People that go past will not say to them,
‘We will ask the Lord to bless you!’
Nobody will say to those who hate Zion's people,
‘Receive our blessing in the name of the Lord !’
129 All my life enemies have attacked me.
Say it again, Israel.
2 All my life enemies have attacked me,
but they have never defeated me.
3 They beat me until I had deep cuts.
My back looked like a freshly plowed field.
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he cut the ropes and set me free from those wicked people.
5 May those who hate Zion be put to shame.
May they be stopped and chased away.
6 They will be like grass on a flat roof
that dies before it has time to grow.
7 The one who goes to harvest it
will not find enough to cut and stack.
8 May no one walking by those wicked people ever say,
“May the Lord bless you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord .”
129 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
4 The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
8 Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we bless you in the name of the Lord .
129 “ [ a ] Many times they have ( A ) attacked me from my ( B ) youth up,”
( C ) Let Israel say,
2 “ [ b ] Many times they have attacked me from my youth up;
Yet they have ( D ) not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.”
4 The Lord ( E ) is righteous;
He has cut up the ( F ) ropes of the wicked.
5 May all who ( G ) hate Zion
Be ( H ) put to shame and turned backward;
6 May they be like ( I ) grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it [ c ] grows up;
7 With which the harvester does not fill his [ d ] hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his [ e ] ( J ) arms;
8 Nor do those who pass by say,
“The ( K ) blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord .”
1 “They have greatly oppressed ( A ) me from my youth,” ( B )
let Israel say; ( C )
2 “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory ( D ) over me.
3 Plowmen have plowed my back
and made their furrows long.
4 But the Lord is righteous; ( E )
he has cut me free ( F ) from the cords of the wicked.” ( G )
5 May all who hate Zion ( H )
be turned back in shame. ( I )
6 May they be like grass on the roof, ( J )
which withers ( K ) before it can grow;
7 a reaper cannot fill his hands with it, ( L )
nor one who gathers fill his arms.
8 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 .”
