³ For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.
⁴ My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
    I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of my loud groaning
    my bones cling to my flesh.
⁶ I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like an owl^[a] of the waste places;
⁷ I lie awake;
    I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
⁸ All the day my enemies taunt me;
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.
⁹ For I eat ashes like bread
    and mingle tears with my drink,
¹⁰ because of your indignation and anger;
    for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
¹¹ My days are like an evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.

¹² But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
    you are remembered throughout all generations.
¹³ You will arise and have pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    the appointed time has come.
¹⁴ For your servants hold her stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.
¹⁵ Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
    and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord builds up Zion;
    he appears in his glory;
¹⁷ he regards the prayer of the destitute
    and does not despise their prayer.

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
¹⁹ that he looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,
²¹ that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
²² when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³ He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.
²⁴ “O my God,” I say, “take me not away
    in the midst of my days—
you whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”

²⁵ Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
²⁷     but you are the same, and your years have no end.
²⁸ The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
    their offspring shall be established before you.