129
A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship
1 I say that my enemies have ◄afflicted/caused trouble for► me ever since I was young.
Now I ask you, my fellow Israelis, to repeat those same words:
2 “Our enemies have afflicted us since our nation began,
but they have not defeated us!
3 Our enemies struck us with whips that cut into our backs [MET]
like a farmer uses a plow to cut deep furrows into the ground.”
4 But Yahweh is righteous,
and he has freed me from being a slave [MTY] of wicked people.
5 I wish/hope that all those who hate Jerusalem/Israel will be ashamed because of being defeated.
6 I hope/wish that they will be of no value, like grass that grows on the roofs of houses
that dries up and does not grow tall;
7 as a result no one cuts it and puts it in bundles and carries it away.
8 People who pass by and see men harvesting grain usually greet them by saying to them,
“We wish/hope that Yahweh will bless you!”
But this will not happen to those who hate Israel.
We, acting as Yahweh’s representatives, bless you Israelis.