A priest was driving along a quiet road when he noticed a nun waiting by the roadside. Wanting to help, he pulled over and offered her a ride.

The nun thanked him and climbed into the passenger seat.

As they continued down the road, she crossed her legs, and her habit shifted slightly. The priest became distracted for a moment and nearly lost control of the car before quickly correcting himself.

A few minutes later, temptation got the better of him. He cautiously moved his hand toward her leg.

The nun calmly looked at him and said:

“Father, remember Psalm 129?”

Embarrassed, the priest immediately pulled his hand away and focused on the road.

For a while, everything was quiet.

Then, while changing gears, his hand once again wandered in her direction.

The nun repeated, just as calmly:

“Father, remember Psalm 129?”

This time, the priest quickly withdrew his hand and spent the rest of the journey staring straight ahead.

When they finally arrived at the convent, the nun thanked him for the ride and went inside.

But the priest couldn’t stop thinking about her words.

What exactly had she meant by Psalm 129?

The Priest Had to Know

As soon as he returned to the church, the priest hurried to his Bible and looked up the passage.

That’s when the joke reached its punchline.

The version of the story claims that Psalm 129 contained a message along the lines of:

“Go forth and seek; further up, you will find glory.”

The priest supposedly stared at the page and realized he had completely misunderstood the nun’s warning.

The lesson of the joke was simple: sometimes knowing the words isn’t enough—you have to know what they mean, too.

But There’s a Catch

There’s an amusing detail behind the joke: the famous punchline isn’t actually what Psalm 129 says.

The real Psalm 129 is a biblical song about persecution, suffering, and deliverance. For example, verse 3 uses the image of plowmen making furrows across the speaker’s back.

The priest-and-nun story has circulated online for years as a joke, with versions appearing on joke forums and other websites.

And perhaps that’s what makes the story work: the priest rushed to check the Scripture, only to discover that the supposed quotation was part of the joke—not an actual passage.

Sometimes the biggest lesson is simply to check the source before acting on what you think you’ve heard.