¹Hear my prayer, O Lord ,

and let my cry come to You.

²Do not hide Your face from me[#Ps 27:9; 69:17]

in the day of my trouble;

incline Your ear to me;

in the day when I call, answer me speedily.

³For my days pass away like smoke,[#Jas 4:14]

and my bones burn like a furnace.

⁴My heart is stricken and withered like grass,[#Ps 37:2; Isa 40:7]

so that I forget to eat my bread.

⁵Because of the sound of my groaning

my bones cling to my skin.

⁶I am like an owl of the wilderness;

like an owl of the desert.

⁷I lie awake, and am[#Ps 77:4]

like a sparrow alone on the housetop.

⁸My enemies reproach me all the day;

those who deride me use my name for a curse.

⁹For I eat ashes like bread

and mingle my drink with tears,

¹⁰because of Your indignation and Your wrath;[#Ps 38:3]

for You have lifted me up and cast me away.

¹¹My days are like an evening shadow;[#Job 14:2; Ps 109:23]

I wither away like grass.

¹²But You, O Lord , shall endure forever,[#Ps 9:7; 135:13]

the remembrance of Your name to all generations.

¹³You will arise and have mercy on Zion,[#Ps 44:26; #Isa 40:2]

for it is time to favor her;

the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,

and take pity on her dust.

¹⁵So the nations will fear the name of the Lord ,[#1Ki 8:43]

and all the kings of the earth Your glory.

¹⁶For the Lord will build up Zion;[#Ps 147:2]

He will appear in His glory.

¹⁷He will regard the prayer of the destitute,

and will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be recorded for the generation to come,[#Ro 15:4]

so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord .

¹⁹For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary;

from heaven the Lord beheld the earth,

²⁰to hear the groaning of the prisoners,

to release those who were appointed to die,

²¹to declare the name of the Lord in Zion,

and His praise in Jerusalem,

²²when the peoples are gathered together,

and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord .

²³He has weakened my strength in midcourse;

He has shortened my days.

²⁴I said,

“O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days;

Your years endure throughout all generations.”

²⁵Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but You will endure;[#Isa 34:4; Rev 20:11]

indeed, they will all wear out like a garment;

like a robe You will change them,

and they will pass away.

²⁷But You are the same,[#Mal 3:6; Jas 1:17]

and Your years will have no end.

²⁸The children of Your servants shall continue;

and their descendants shall be established before You.