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." A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.