Psalms

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.”