1 A Canticle in steps. They have often fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say: 2 they have often fought against me from my youth, yet they could not prevail over me. 3 The sinners have made fabrications behind my back. They have prolonged their iniquity. 4 The just Lord will cut the necks of sinners. 5 Let all those who hate Zion be confounded and turned backwards. 6 Let them be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can be pulled up: 7 with it, he who reaps does not fill his hand and he who gathers sheaves does not fill his bosom. 8 And those who were passing by have not said to them: “The blessing of the Lord be upon you. We have blessed you in the name of the Lord.”
Psalms · Catholic Public Domain Version
Psalm 128 (129) Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · Psalm 129 · About the recordings
Notes on this text (4)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
- Psalms follow the Greek/Latin numbering, with the psalm titles counted as verse 1 (as in the Vulgate).
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
Cross references (8)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info. References use English (Hebrew-based) verse numbers; links open the passage in CPDV.
- 1 Psalm 124:1; Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea 11:1; Psalm 127:1; Exodus 1:12–14
- 2 2 Corinthians 4:8–9; Revelation 12:8–9; Psalm 34:19; Matthew 16:18; Psalm 125:1
- 3 Isaiah 51:23; Psalm 141:7
- 4 Psalm 119:137; Lamentations 3:22; Psalm 124:6–7; Daniel 9:7; Nehemiah 9:33
- 5 Psalm 71:13; Isaiah 37:35; Zechariah 12:3; Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 37:22
- 6 Psalm 37:2; Psalm 92:7; Jeremiah 17:5–6; Matthew 13:6; 2 Kings 19:26
- 7 Galatians 6:8; Isaiah 17:10–11; Psalm 126:6; Hosea 8:7
- 8 Ruth 2:4; Psalm 118:26
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations). Verse numbers below follow the Hebrew/English numbering: 129.
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Felix the Martyr, truly Felix, i.e. "Happy" both in his name and his crown, whose birthday this is, despised the world. Was he, because he feared the Lord, thence happy, thence blessed, because his wife was as a fruitful vine upon the earth, and his children stood around his table?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)