1 H ear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.

2 H ide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.

3 F or my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.

4 M y heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.

5 B y reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.

6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

8 M ine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

9 F or I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,

10 b ecause of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

11 M y days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

12 B ut thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

13 T hou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

14 F or thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

15 S o the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

16 W hen the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

17 H e will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

18 T his shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.

19 F or he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth;

20 t o hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

21 t o declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

22 w hen the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

23 H e weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.

25 O f old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

26 T hey shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

27 b ut thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

28 T he children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.