Psalm 129
Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion’s Enemies.
A Song of Ascents.
1 “1Many times they have 2apersecuted me from my byouth up,”
cLet Israel now say,
2 “1Many times they have 2persecuted me from my youth up;
Yet they have anot prevailed against me.
3 “The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.”
4 The Lord ais righteous;
He has cut in two the bcords of the wicked.
5 May all who ahate Zion
Be bput to shame and turned backward;
6 Let them be like agrass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it 1grows up;
7 With which the reaper does not fill his 1hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his abosom;
8 Nor do those who pass by say,
“The ablessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 129 — The New International Version (NIV)
Title A song of ascents.
1 “They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,”
let Israel say;
2 “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory over me.
3 Plowmen have plowed my back
and made their furrows long.
4 But the Lord is righteous;
he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.”
5 May all who hate Zion
be turned back in shame.
6 May they be like grass on the roof,
which withers before it can grow;
7 a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,
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 in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 129 — English Standard Version (ESV)
Title A Song of Ascents.
1 “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth”—
let Israel now say—
2 “Greatly 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 has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward!
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
Psalm 129 — King James Version (KJV 1900)
Title A Song of degrees.
1 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.
Psalm 129 — New Living Translation (NLT)
Title A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
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.”
Psalm 129 — The New King James Version (NKJV)
Title A Song of Ascents.
1 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,”
Let Israel now say—
2 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed on my back;
They made their furrows long.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.
5 Let all those who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned back.
6 Let them be as the grass on the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up,
7 With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Nor he who binds sheaves, his arms.
8 Neither let those who pass by them say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
Psalm 129 — New Century Version (NCV)
Title A song for going up to worship.
1 They have treated me badly all my life.
(Let Israel repeat this.)
2 They have treated me badly all my life,
but they have not defeated me.
3 Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back,
making long wounds.
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he has set me free from those wicked people.
5 Let those who hate Jerusalem
be turned back in shame.
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof
that dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it to fill a hand
or to make into a bundle to fill one’s arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the power of the Lord.”
Psalm 129 — American Standard Version (ASV)
Title A Song of Ascents.
1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up,
Let Israel now say,
2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth up:
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back;
They made long their furrows.
4 Jehovah is righteous:
He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 Let them be put to shame and turned backward,
All they that hate Zion.
6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops,
Which withereth before it groweth up;
7 Wherewith the reaper filleth not his hand,
Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
8 Neither do they that go by say,
The blessing of Jehovah be upon you;
We bless you in the name of Jehovah.
Psalm 129 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)
Title A Song of degrees.
1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth—oh let Israel say— 2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me. 3 The ploughers ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows. 4 Jehovah is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 Let them be ashamed and turned backward, all that hate Zion; 6 Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops, which withereth before it is plucked up, 7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom; 8 Neither do the passers-by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; we bless you in the name of Jehovah!
Psalm 129 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
Title A song for going up to worship.
1 “From the time I was young, people have attacked me …”
(Israel should repeat this.)
2 “From the time I was young, people have attacked me,
but they have never overpowered me.
3 They have plowed my back ⸤like farmers plow fields⸥.
They made long slashes ⸤like furrows⸥.”
4 The Lord is righteous.
He has cut me loose
from the ropes that wicked people tied around me.
5 Put to shame all those who hate Zion.
Force them to retreat.
6 Make them be like grass on a roof,
like grass that dries up before it produces a stalk.
7 It will never fill the barns of those who harvest
or the arms of those who gather bundles.
8 Those who pass by will never say ⸤to them⸥,
“May you be blessed by the Lord”
or “We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 129 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Title A song of ascents.
1 Since my youth they have often attacked me—
let Israel say—
2 Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not prevailed against me.
3 Plowmen plowed over my back;
they made their furrows long.
4 The Lord is righteous;
He has cut the ropes of the wicked.
5 Let all who hate Zion
be driven back in disgrace.
6 Let them be like grass on the rooftops,
which withers before it grows up
7 and can’t even fill the hands of the reaper
or the arms of the one who binds sheaves.
8 Then none who pass by will say,
“May the Lord’s blessing be on you.”
We bless you in the name of Yahweh.
Psalm 129 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Title A Song of Ascents.
1 “Often have they attacked me from my youth”
—let Israel now say—
2 “often have they attacked me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed on my back;
they made their furrows long.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward.
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops
that withers before it grows up,
7 with which reapers do not fill their hands
or binders of sheaves their arms,
8 while those who pass by do not say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
Psalm 129 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)
Title A song of ascents.
1 “Too often they have attacked me from my youth.”
Let Israel say,
2 “Too often they have attacked me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 On my back plowmen have plowed.
They have made their furrows long.”
4 Yahweh is righteous.
He has cut the ropes of the wicked.
5 Let all be put to shame and repulsed
who hate Zion.
6 Let them be like grass on the housetops,
that withers before it grows up,
7 with which a reaper cannot fill his hand,
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 so that passersby do not say,
“The blessing of Yahweh be upon you.
We bless you in the name of Yahweh.”
Psalm 129 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)
Title A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
1 Here is what Israel should say.
Many times my enemies have beaten me down ever since I was a young nation.
2 Many times my enemies have beaten me down ever since I was a young nation,
but they haven’t won the battle.
3 They have made deep wounds in my back.
It looks like a field a farmer has plowed.
4 The Lord does what is right.
Sinners had tied me up with ropes. But the Lord has set me free.
5 May all those who hate Zion
be driven back in shame.
6 May they be like grass that grows on the roof of a house.
It dries up before it can grow.
7 There isn’t enough of it to fill a person’s hand.
There isn’t enough to tie up and carry away.
8 May no one who passes by say to those who hate Zion,
“May the blessing of the Lord be on you.
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”