O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me ; in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like fire.
Withered and died up like grass is my heart ; I forget to eat my bread.
Because of my insistent sighing I am reduced to skin and bone.
I am like a desert owl ; I have become like an owl among the ruins.
I am sleepless, and I moan ; I am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.
All the day my enemies revile me ; in their rage against me they make a
curse of me.
For I eat ashes like bread and mingle my drink with tears,
Because of your fury and your wrath ; for you lifted me up only to cast
me down.
My days are like a lengthening shadow, and I whither like grass.
But you, O Lord, abide forever, and your name through all generations.
You will arise and have mercy on Sion, for it is time to pity her, for the
appointed time has come.
For her stones are dear to your servants, and her dust moves them to pity.
And the nations shall revere your name, O Lord, and all the kings of the
earth your glory,
When the Lord has rebuilt Sion and appeared in his glory ;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and not despised their
prayer.
Let this be written for the generation to come, and let his future creatures
praise the Lord :
“The Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the
earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die” –
That the name of the Lord may be declared in Sion ; and his praise, in
Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
He has broken down my strength in the way ; he has cut short my days.
I say: O my God,
Take me not hence in the midst of my days ; through all generations your
years endure.
Of old you established the earth, and the heavens are the work of your
hands.
They shall perish, but you remain though all of them grow old like a
garment.
Like clothing you change them, and they are changed, but you are the
same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall abide, and their posterity shall
continue in your presence.
