<Psalms 129

[1] From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me. Let all Israel repeat this:

[2] From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me.

[3] My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.

[4] But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.

[5] May all who hate Jerusalem be turned back in shameful defeat.

[6] May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop, turning yellow when only half grown,

[7] ignored by the harvester, despised by the binder.

[8] And may those who pass by refuse to give them this blessing: “The Lord bless you; we bless you in the Lord’s name.”