1 LORD, hear my prayer; let my cry for help reach you.
2 Do not hide your face from me on the day I am in distress; turn your ear to me; on the day I call, hurry and answer me.
3 For my days come to an end in smoke, and my bones are charred like a hearth.
4 My heart is struck like grass and has dried up, for I have forgotten to eat my food.
5 At the sound of my groaning my bones stick to my flesh.
6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desolate places.
7 I keep watch, and I am like a solitary bird upon a roof.
8 My enemies revile me all day long; those who rage against me make an oath of my name.
9 For I have eaten ashes as my bread and mixed my drink with tears,
10 because of your indignation and your anger; for you picked me up and cast me away.
11 My days are like a shadow stretched out, and I—like grass I dry up.
12 But you, LORD, sit enthroned forever, and the memory of you lasts from generation to generation.
13 You will rise up and show mercy to Zion, for it is the time to favor her; yes, the set time has come.
14 For your servants delight in her stones and feel pity for her dust.
15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 For the LORD has built Zion; he has appeared in his glory.
17 He has turned toward the prayer of the destitute and has not scorned their prayer.
18 Let this be written down for a later generation, so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.
19 For he has looked down from his holy height; from heaven the LORD has looked upon the earth,
20 to hear the groaning of the captive, to release those doomed to death,
21 that they may tell of the name of the LORD in Zion and of his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
23 He has brought my strength low on the way; he has cut short my days.
24 I said, "My God, do not take me up in the middle of my days—your years run through all generations."
25 Long ago you founded the earth, and the heavens are what your hands have made.
26 They will perish, but you will stand; all of them will wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them, and they will be gone.
27 But you remain the same, and your years will never come to an end.
28 The children of your servants will live on, and their descendants will be established before you.