About this passageFour verses from the opening chapter of the Dhammapada, titled "Pairs" because its verses come in matched sets showing a thing and its opposite. Verses 3 and 4 are such a pair, identical except for one word. The list of grievances is deliberately concrete and repeated verbatim, so that the only variable left is whether it is carried. Verse 5 calls the teaching ancient, presenting it as something restated rather than newly discovered.
"They abused me, they hit me! They beat me, they robbed me!" For those who bear such a grudge, hatred is never laid to rest.
"They abused me, they hit me! They beat me, they robbed me!" For those who bear no such grudge, hatred is laid to rest.
For never is hatred laid to rest by hate, it's laid to rest by love: this is an ancient teaching.
When others do not understand, let us, who do understand this, restrain ourselves in this regard; for that is how conflicts are laid to rest.
In plainer words
"They insulted me, they hit me, they beat me, they took what was mine." Keep score like that and the anger never ends. Someone who does not keep that score is done with it. Hatred has never once been ended by more hatred; it ends by love. People have known this a very long time. Most people never work it out — so those of us who have can stop, and stopping is how the fighting ends.
A restatement in modern English, written for this collection. The passage above is the text; this is one way of putting it.