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Dhammapada · narration sample

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The Bible · 607 of 1189

Psalms 129

1.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 hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

5.Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.

6.Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:

7.Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

8.Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.

Asked of Guide

Why does the psalm repeat

Who is speaking is Israel, recounting long suffering: “Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth.” The voice remembers being plowed and furrowed — vivid images of sustained brutality — and then declares survival: “yet they have not prevailed against me.”

The psalm moves from complaint to vindication by invoking divine justice: “The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.” That resolution echoes themes in Habakkuk and earlier psalms where God reverses the oppressor’s fortunes and blesses Zion rather than those who pass by.

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