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Psalm 128[a]

A song of ascents.[b]

128 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers,[c]
each one who keeps his commands.[d]
You[e] will eat what you worked so hard to grow.[f]
You will be blessed and secure.[g]
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine[h]
in the inner rooms of your house;
your children[i] will be like olive branches,
as they sit all around your table.
Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord
will be blessed in this way.[j]
May the Lord bless you[k] from Zion,
that you might see[l] Jerusalem prosper
all the days of your life,
and that you might see[m] your grandchildren.[n]
May Israel experience peace.[o]

Psalm 129[p]

A song of ascents.[q]

129 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,”
let Israel say.
“Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not defeated me.
The plowers plowed my back;
they made their furrows long.
The Lord is just;
he cut the ropes of the wicked.”[r]
May all who hate Zion
be humiliated and turned back.
May they be like the grass on the rooftops,
which withers before one can even pull it up,[s]
which cannot fill the reaper’s hand,
or the lap of the one who gathers the grain.
Those who pass by will not say,[t]
“May you experience the Lord’s blessing!
We pronounce a blessing on you in the name of the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 128:1 sn Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children.
  2. Psalm 128:1 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
  3. Psalm 128:1 tn Heb “every fearer of the Lord.”
  4. Psalm 128:1 tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”
  5. Psalm 128:2 tn The psalmist addresses the representative God-fearing man, as indicated by the references to “your wife” (v. 3) and “the man” (v. 4), as well as the second masculine singular pronominal and verbal forms in vv. 2-6.
  6. Psalm 128:2 tn Heb “the work of your hands, indeed you will eat.”
  7. Psalm 128:2 tn Heb “how blessed you [will be] and it will be good for you.”
  8. Psalm 128:3 sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).
  9. Psalm 128:3 tn One could translate “sons” (see Ps 127:3 and the note on the word “sons” there), but here the term seems to refer more generally to children of both genders.
  10. Psalm 128:4 tn Heb “look, indeed thus will the man, the fearer of the Lord, be blessed.”
  11. Psalm 128:5 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer (note the imperatives that are subordinated to this clause in vv. 5b-6a). Having described the blessings that typically come to the godly, the psalmist concludes by praying that this ideal may become reality for the representative godly man being addressed.
  12. Psalm 128:5 tn The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding jussive.
  13. Psalm 128:6 tn The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive in v. 5a.
  14. Psalm 128:6 tn Heb “sons to your sons.”
  15. Psalm 128:6 tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 125:5).
  16. Psalm 129:1 sn Psalm 129. Israel affirms God’s justice and asks him to destroy the enemies of Zion.
  17. Psalm 129:1 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
  18. Psalm 129:4 tn The background of the metaphor is not entirely clear. Perhaps the “ropes” are those used to harness the ox for plowing (see Job 39:10). Verse 3 pictures the wicked plowing God’s people as if they were a field. But when God “cut the ropes” of their ox, as it were, they could no longer plow. The point of the metaphor seems to be that God took away the enemies’ ability to oppress his people. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 187.
  19. Psalm 129:6 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).
  20. Psalm 129:8 tn The perfect verbal form is used for rhetorical effect; it describes an anticipated development as if it were already reality.