“Of old You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
Hear my prayer, O Lord!
And let my cry for help come to You.

“Even they will perish, but You endure;
And all of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.

You will arise and have compassion on Zion;
For it is time to be gracious to her,
For the appointed time has come.

“But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.

But You, O Lord, abide forever,
And Your name to all generations.

For the Lord has built up Zion;
He has appeared in His glory.

I say, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days,
Your years are throughout all generations.

For He looked down from His holy height;
From heaven the Lord gazed upon the earth,

He has regarded the prayer of the destitute
And has not despised their prayer.

I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the waste places.

For my days have been consumed in smoke,
And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.

Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day when I call answer me quickly.

I lie awake,
I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

So the nations will fear the name of the Lord
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.

My days are like a lengthened shadow,
And I wither away like grass.

“The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”

Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones
And feel pity for her dust.

To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To set free those who were doomed to death,

Because of the loudness of my groaning
My bones cling to my flesh.

That men may tell of the name of the Lord in Zion
And His praise in Jerusalem,

He has weakened my strength in the way;
He has shortened my days.

My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away,
Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.

My enemies have reproached me all day long;
Those who deride me have used my name as a curse.

Because of Your indignation and Your wrath,
For You have lifted me up and cast me away.

When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

For I have eaten ashes like bread
And mingled my drink with weeping