1A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come to You. 2Hide not Your face from me in the day when I am in trouble; bow down Your ear to me; in the day I call, answer me quickly. 3For my days go up like smoke, and my bones glow like a firebrand. 4My heart is stricken, and dried like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread. 5Because of the voice of my groaning, my bones hold fast to my skin. 6I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. 7I watch, and am as a sparrow alone on the house top. 8My enemies curse me all the day; and they who are mad against me are sworn against me. 9For I have eaten ashes like bread, and have mixed my drink with weeping, 10because of Your anger and Your wrath; for You have lifted me up and cast me down. 11My days [are] like a shadow stretched out; and I wither like grass. 12But You, O LORD, shall endure forever; and Your memory to all generations. 13You shall arise, [and] have mercy on Zion; for the time to pity her, yea, the set time, has come. 14For Your servants take pleasure in its stones, and pity its dust. 15So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. 16When the LORD shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. 17He will turn to the prayer of the forsaken and not despise their prayer. 18This shall be written for the generation to come; and the people who shall be created shall praise the LORD. 19For He has looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from Heaven the LORD beheld the earth; 20to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to set free the sons of death; 21to declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem; 22when the peoples and the kingdoms have gathered together to serve the LORD. 23He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. 24I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days; Your years [are] through the generation of generations. 25Of old You have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens [are] the work of Your hands. 26They shall perish, but You shall endure; yea, all of them shall become old like a garment; like a robe You shall change them, and they shall be changed; 27but You [are] He, and Your years shall have no end. 28The sons of Your servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before You.