[1] Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you!
[2] Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!
[3] For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.
[4] My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread.
[5] Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh.
[6] I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places;
[7] I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
[8] All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse.
[9] For I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink,
[10] because of your indignation and anger; for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
[11] My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
[12] But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations.
[13] You will arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come.
[14] For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust.
[15] Nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
[16] For the LORD builds up Zion; he appears in his glory;
[17] he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.
[18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
[19] that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
[20] to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die,
[21] that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise,
[22] when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
[23] He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.
[24] “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!”
[25] Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
[26] They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
[27] but you are the same, and your years have no end.
[28] The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.