Holy Bible - American Standard Version(ASV)

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before Jehovah.

¹Hear my prayer, O Jehovah,

And let my cry come unto thee.

²Hide not thy face from me in the day of my distress:

Incline thine ear unto me;

In the day when I call answer me speedily.

³For my days consume away like smoke,

And my bones are burned as a firebrand.

⁴My heart is smitten like grass, and withered;

For I forget to eat my bread.

⁵By reason of the voice of my groaning

My bones cleave to my flesh.

⁶I am like a pelican of the wilderness;

I am become as an owl of the waste places.

⁷I watch, and am become like a sparrow

That is alone upon the house-top.

⁸Mine enemies reproach me all the day;

They that are mad against me do curse by me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread,

And mingled my drink with weeping,

¹⁰Because of thine indignation and thy wrath:

For thou hast taken me up, and cast me away.

¹¹My days are like a shadow that declineth;

And I am withered like grass.

¹²But thou, O Jehovah, wilt abide for ever;

And thy memorial name unto all generations.

¹³Thou wilt arise, and have mercy upon Zion;

For it is time to have pity upon her,

Yea, the set time is come.

¹⁴For thy servants take pleasure in her stones,

And have pity upon her dust.

¹⁵So the nations shall fear the name of Jehovah,

And all the kings of the earth thy glory.

¹⁶For Jehovah hath built up Zion;

He hath appeared in his glory.

¹⁷He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute,

And hath not despised their prayer.

¹⁸This shall be written for the generation to come;

And a people which shall be created shall praise Jehovah.

¹⁹For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary;

From heaven did Jehovah behold the earth;

²⁰To hear the sighing of the prisoner;

To loose those that are appointed to death;

²¹That men may declare the name of Jehovah in Zion,

And his praise in Jerusalem;

²²When the peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah.

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:

Thy years are throughout all generations.

²⁵Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth;

And the heavens are the work of thy hands.

²⁶They 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:

²⁷But thou art the same,

And thy years shall have no end.

²⁸The children of thy servants shall continue,

And their seed shall be established before thee.