1 A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.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 Jerusalembe 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 byrefuse to give them this blessing:“The Lord bless you;we bless you in the Lord’s name.”