Psalms 129:1 Cross References - Thomson

¹ A Song of the steps. Many a time have they warred against me from my youth, let Israel now say;

¹² But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew stronger and stronger. So the Egyptians were abhorred by the children of Israel; ¹³ and the Egyptians ruled over the Israelites with rigour ¹⁴ and made their lives bitter with hard labour in working clay and making bricks and with all the toils of the field, according to the several kinds of service to which they forcibly subjected them.

²² Then Pharao gave orders to all his people saying, Every male child which is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the river, but preserve every female alive.

⁷ You shall no more give the people straw to make bricks as heretofore; but let them go and gather straw for themselves; ⁸ yet the daily task of brick making which they now perform, you shall lay upon them. Thou shalt make no abatement; for they are idle. Therefore they have cried saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. ⁹ Let the work of these men be made heavy and let them employ their thoughts about that, and not trouble themselves with vain discourses. ¹⁰ Upon this the task masters and clerks hurried them and spoke to the people saying, Thus saith Pharao, I will no more give you straw; ¹¹ go and collect straw for yourselves where you can find it; for no abatement shall be made of your task. ¹² So the people were dispersed through all the land of Egypt to collect stubble instead of straw. ¹³ And the task masters urged them saying, Compleat the customary daily task as when straw was furnished you. ¹⁴ And when they beat the clerks of the nation of the Israelites who were set over them by the officers of Pharao and said, Why have you not as heretofore compleated your tasks of brick making to day? ¹⁵ the clerks of the children of Israel went and cried to Pharao saying, Why dost thou deal thus with thy servants? ¹⁶ There is no straw given to thy servants, yet they say to us, Make bricks. And lo! thy servants are beaten. Wilt thou then deal unjustly with thy people? ¹⁷ But he said to them, You are idle: You are idlers. Therefore you say, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. ¹⁸ Go therefore now and work; for there shall be no straw given you, yet you shall deliver the task of bricks. ¹⁹ So the clerks of the children of Israel saw themselves in a miserable situation, when they said, You shall be allowed no abatement from the customary daily task of brick making.

¹⁵ Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken, and as the Lord had solemnly denounced to them.

⁸ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of Cousarsathaim, king of Syrian Mesopotamia, and the children of Israel served him eight years.

⁸ and they afflicted, and oppressed the children of Israel, at that time eighteen years, even all the children of Israel who were on the border of the Jordan, in the land of the Amorites, in Galaad. ⁹ Moreover the children of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight against Juda, and Benjamin, and against Ephraim, so that the Israelites were grievously oppressed. ¹⁰ And when the children of Israel cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned against thee, because we have forsaken God, and served Baals, ¹¹ the Lord said to the Israelites, Did I not deliver you out of Egypt, and from the Amorites and the Ammonites, and the Philistines, ¹² and the Sidonians, and Amalek, and Madiam, who afflicted you? When you cried to me, I saved you out of their hands.

¹⁹ [Now there was not a blacksmith to be found in all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, The Hebrews must not make a sword or a spear;

¹ and when they who afflicted Juda and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a house for the Lord God of Israel, ² they came to Zorobabel and to the chiefs of the families, and said, Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek our God, and we sacrifice to him, from the days of Asaradan, king of Assur, who brought us here. ³ But Zorobabel and Jesus, and the other chiefs of the families of Israel, said to them, It is not allowable for us, and you, to build a house to our God, for we ourselves assembling together are to build for the Lord our God, as Cyrus the king of the Persians hath commanded us. ⁴ Upon this the people of the land began to weaken the hands of the people of Juda, and they impeded their building, ⁵ and counsellors were hired to frustrate their design, all the days of Cyrus king of the Persians, and even to the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶ In the reign of Assuerus, even in the beginning of his reign, they wrote a letter against the inhabitants of Juda and Jerusalem. ⁷ And in the days of Arthasastha, Tabeel in concert with Mithridates, and the rest of his fellow servants, wrote to Arthasastha king of the Persians; the collector of the tribute drew up a writing in Syriack; ⁸ and Reum Baltam and Sampsa the secretary, wrote a translation of it, as their joint letter against Jerusalem, to Arthasastha the king saying, ⁹ This hath been agreed on by Reum Baltam, and Sampsa the secretary, and the rest of our fellow servants, the Deinaians, Apharsathachaians, Tarphalaians, Apharsaians, Archuaians, Babylonians, Susanachaians, Davaians, ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations, whom the great and the honourable Assenaphar transplanted, and settled in the cities of Somoron, and the rest of the country on this side the river. ¹¹ This was the purport of the letter which they sent to him, To Arthasastha the king., thy servants, the men beyond the river: ¹² Be it known to the king, that the Jews who came up from thee to us, have come to Jerusalem, that rebellious and wicked city, and are rebuilding it. The walls of it are repaired, and they have reared up the foundations of it. ¹³ Now therefore be it known to the king, that if this city be rebuilt, and the walls therefore completed, no tribute will be paid to thee, nor will they do homage. Now as this is injurious to kings, ¹⁴ and it is not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, we have therefore sent to inform the king, ¹⁵ that he may examine the book of the records of thy fathers, by which thou wilt find, and know that this is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and countries, and that there are asylums for slaves in the midst of it, from time immemorial, for which cause this city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We therefore certify the king, that if this city be rebuilt, and the wall thereof reared up, there will be no peace for thee. ¹⁷ To which he replied. The king, to Reum Baltam, and Sampsa the secretary, and to the rest of their fellow servants, who dwell in Samaria and the rest beyond the river, greeting, and saith, ¹⁸ The collector of the tribute, whom you sent to us, hath been called before me, ¹⁹ and I gave orders and we have examined and found, that this city from time immemorial hath set itself up against kings and that there are seditions in it, and asylums for slaves; ²⁰ and that there have been mighty kings in Jerusalem, who have exercised dominion over the whole country beyond the river; and that great tribute, and tolls have been paid to them. ²¹ Now therefore give orders to stop those men; for that city must not be built any more. ²² See that you merit praise in executing this, lest peradventure the desolation be fitted up to the prejudice of kings. ²³ When king Arthasastha's collector of tribute had read this in the presence of Beum Baltam, and Sampsa the secretary, and his fellow servants, they marched in haste to Jerusalem, and through Juda, and with horsemen and an army caused them to stop.

¹⁵ I am afflicted and in troubles from my youth: though raised high I have been humbled and distressed.

¹ A Song of the steps. In my distress I cried to the Lord; and he hearkened to me.

¹ A Song of the steps. I Have lifted up mine eyes to the mountains, from which my help is to come.

¹ A Song of the steps. I was rejoiced when they said to me; "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

¹ A Song of the steps. To thee who dwellest in heaven, I have raised mine eyes.

¹ A Song of the steps. Had not the Lord been on our side [let Israel now say]

¹ A Song of the steps. They who trust in the Lord shall be like mount Sion; he who inhabiteth Jerusalem shall never be shaken.

¹ A Song of the steps. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Sion; we were like them who are comforted.

¹ A Song of the steps. Unless the Lord build the house, the builders have laboured in vain. Unless the Lord guard the city, in vain hath the watchman watched;

¹ A Song of the steps. Happy are all they who fear the Lord, who walk continually in his ways.

¹² Persist now in thine incantations and in thy manifold sorcery, which thou hast learned from thy youth: if thou canst be benefited by them.

² I remembered mercy in thy youth; and love, in thy mature age,

²¹ I spake to thee respecting thy fall; but thou saidst, "I will not listen." This hath been thy way from thy youth, thou hast not hearkened to my voice.

³ Judea is forced to emigrate. On account of her humiliation and because of her great servitude, she sat down among the nations; she found no rest. All her persecutors found her among them who were afflicting her.

³ who in their youth had committed whoredom in Egypt. There they were first deflowered.

¹⁵ And thence I will give her for her possessions, even the valley of Achor to open her understanding: and she shall be humbled there as in the days of her youth, even as in the days of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.

¹ [p] Early in the morning they have been rejected! the king of Israel is cast off! [J] When Israel was young I loved him, and I called his children out of Egypt.