Psalms 129

1 Great have been my troubles from the time when I was young (let Israel now say);

1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth — oh let Israel say —

2Great have been my troubles from the time when I was young, but my troubles have not overcome me.

2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.

3The ploughmen were ploughing on my back; long were the wounds they made.

3 The ploughers ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows.

4The Lord is true: the cords of the evil-doers are broken in two.

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

5Let all the haters of Zion be shamed and turned back.

5 Let them be ashamed and turned backward, all that hate Zion;

6Let them be like the grass on the house-tops, which is dry before it comes to full growth.

6 Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops, which withereth before it is plucked up,

7He who gets in the grain has no use for it; and they do not make bands of it for the grain-stems.

7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom;

8And those who go by do not say, The blessing of the Lord be on you; we give you blessing in the name of the Lord.

8 Neither do the passers-by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; we bless you in the name of Jehovah!