[1] LORD, hear my prayer! Let my cry reach you! [2] Don’t hide your face from me in my time of trouble! Listen to me! Answer me quickly as I cry out! [3] Because my days disappear like smoke, my bones are burned up as if in an oven; [4] my heart is smashed like dried-up grass. I even forget to eat my food [5] because of my intense groans. My bones are protruding from my skin. [6] I’m like some wild owl—like some screech owl in the desert. [7] I lie awake all night. I’m all alone like a bird on a roof. [8] All day long my enemies make fun of me; those who mock me curse using my name! [9] I’ve been eating ashes instead of bread. I’ve been mixing tears into my drinks [10] because of your anger and wrath, because you picked me up and threw me away. [11] My days are like a shadow soon gone. I’m dried up like dead grass. [12] But you, LORD, rule forever! Your fame lasts from one generation to the next! [13] You will stand up—you’ll have compassion on Zion because it is time to have mercy on her—the time set for that has now come! [14] Your servants cherish Zion’s stones; they show mercy even to her dirt. [15] The nations will honor the LORD’s name; all the earth’s rulers will honor your glory [16] because the LORD will rebuild Zion; he will be seen there in his glory. [17] God will turn to the prayer of the impoverished; he won’t despise their prayers. [18] Let this be written down for the next generation so that people not yet created will praise the LORD: [19] The LORD looked down from his holy summit, surveyed the earth from heaven, [20] to hear the prisoners’ groans, to set free those condemned to death, [21] that the LORD’s name may be declared in Zion and his praise declared in Jerusalem, [22] when all people are gathered together—all kingdoms—to serve the LORD. [23] God broke my strength in midstride, cutting my days short. [24] I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the prime of life—your years go on from one generation to the next! [25] You laid the earth’s foundations long ago; the skies are your handiwork. [26] These things will pass away, but you will last. All of these things will wear out like clothing; you change them like clothes, and they pass on. [27] But you are the one! Your years never end! [28] Let your servants’ children live safe; let your servants’ descendants live secure in your presence.”
