Psalm 129. Saepe expugnaverunt.

1. "Greatly have they oppressed me since my youth," *
   let Israel now say;
2. "Greatly have they oppressed me since my youth, *
   but they have not prevailed against me."
3. The plowmen plowed upon my back *
   and made their furrows long.
4. The Lord, the Righteous One, *
   has cut the cords of the wicked.
5. Let them be put to shame and thrown back, *
   all those who are enemies of Zion.
6. Let them be like grass upon the housetops, *
   which withers before it can be plucked;
7. Which does not fill the hand of the reaper, *
   nor the bosom of him who binds the sheaves;
8. So that those who go by say not so much as, "The Lord prosper you. *
   We wish you well in the Name of the Lord."