1 Many enemies have attacked from the time I was young. Let everyone in Israel say:

2 Many enemies have attacked from the time I was young, but they never defeated me.

3 They beat me on my back, leaving long furrows as if it had been ploughed by a farmer.

4 But the Lord does what is right: he has cut me free from the ropes of the wicked.

5 May everyone who hates Zion be driven back in humiliating defeat.

6 May they be like grass that grows on a roof that withers before it can be harvested,

7 There's not enough even for a reaper to hold, not enough even for the binder to bind.*The image is of something that's completely useless.

8 May passers-by not say to them, “The blessing of the Lord be on you; we bless you in the name of the Lord.”