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.”