Psalms 129
129
(A song for worship.)
A Prayer for Protection
1Since the time I was young,
enemies have often attacked!
Let everyone in Israel say:
2“Since the time I was young,
enemies have often attacked!
But they have not defeated me,
3though my back is like a field
that has just been plowed.”
4The Lord always does right,
and he has set me free
from the ropes
of those cruel people.
5I pray that all who hate
the city of Zion
will be made ashamed
and forced to turn and run.
6May they be like grass
on the flat roof of a house,
grass that dries up
as soon as it sprouts.
7Don't let them be like wheat
gathered in bundles.
8And don't let anyone
who passes by say to them,
“The Lord bless you!
I give you my blessing
in the name of the Lord.”
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Psalms 129: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Psalms 129
129
Psalm 129#sn Psalm 129. Israel affirms God’s justice and asks him to destroy the enemies of Zion.
A song of ascents.#sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
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 defeated me.
3 The plowers plowed my back;
they made their furrows long.
4 The Lord is just;
he cut the ropes of the wicked.”#tn The background of the metaphor is not entirely clear. Perhaps the “ropes” are those used to harness the ox for plowing (see Job 39:10). Verse 3 pictures the wicked plowing God’s people as if they were a field. But when God “cut the ropes” of their ox, as it were, they could no longer plow. The point of the metaphor seems to be that God took away the enemies’ ability to oppress his people. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 187.
5 May all who hate Zion
be humiliated and turned back!
6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops
which withers before one can even pull it up,#tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).
7 which cannot fill the reaper’s hand,
or the lap of the one who gathers the grain!
8 Those who pass by will not say,#tn The perfect verbal form is used for rhetorical effect; it describes an anticipated development as if it were already reality.
“May you experience the Lord’s blessing!
We pronounce a blessing on you in the name of the Lord.”
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