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May they be like grass on the rooftops[a]
    withered in early growth,(A)
Never to fill the reaper’s hands,
    nor the arms of the binders of sheaves,
And with none passing by to call out:
    “The blessing of the Lord be upon you![b]
    We bless you in the name of the Lord!”(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 129:6 Like grass on the rooftops: after the spring rains, grass would sprout from the coat of mud with which the flat roofs of simple houses were covered, but when the dry summer began there was no moisture in the thin roof-covering to sustain the grass.
  2. 129:8 The blessing of the Lord be upon you: harvesters greeted one another with such blessings, cf. Ru 2:4.

May they be like grass on the roof,(A)
    which withers(B) before it can grow;
a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,(C)
    nor one who gathers fill his arms.
May those who pass by not say to them,
    “The blessing of the Lord be on you;
    we bless you(D) in the name of the Lord.”

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