Psalm 129

A Prayer against Israel’s Enemies

129Israel, tell us how your enemies have persecuted you

ever since you were young.

²“Ever since I was young,

my enemies have persecuted me cruelly,

but they have not overcome me.

³They cut deep wounds in my back

and made it like a ploughed field.

⁴But the Lord, the righteous one,

has freed me from slavery.”

⁵May everyone who hates Zion

be defeated and driven back.

⁶May they all be like grass growing on the housetops,

which dries up before it can grow;

⁷no one gathers it up

or carries it away in bundles.

⁸No one who passes by will say,

“May the Lord bless you!

We bless you in the name of the Lord.”