Protection of the Oppressed

¹Since my youth they have often attacked me —

let Israel say —

²since my youth they have often attacked me,

but they have not prevailed against me.

³Plowmen plowed over my back;

they made their furrows long.

⁴The Lord is righteous;

he has cut the ropes of the wicked.

⁵Let all who hate Zion

be driven back in disgrace.

⁶Let them be like grass on the rooftops,

which withers before it grows up ,

⁷and can’t even fill the hands of the reaper

or the arms of the one who binds sheaves.

⁸Then none who pass by will say,

“May the Lord ’s blessing be on you.

We bless you in the name of the Lord .”