Psalm 129

A Song of the going up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⁸ And 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.