1 A Song of degrees. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.3 The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.4 The LORD [is] righteous; he has cut asunder the cords of the wicked.5 All those that hate Zion shall all be confounded and turned back.6 They shall be as the grass [upon] the housetops, which withers before it grows up,7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor he that binds sheaves his bosom.8 Neither did those who go by say, The blessing of the LORD [be] upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.: