1021 Hear my prayer , O Lord ! And let my cry for help come to You. 2 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 . 3 For my days have been consumed in smoke , And my bones have been scorched like a hearth . 4 My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, Indeed , I forget to eat my bread . 5 Because of the loudness of my groaning My bones cling to my flesh . 6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness ; I have become like an owl of the waste places . 7 I lie awake , I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop . 8 My enemies have reproached me all day long; Those who deride me have used my name as a curse . 9 For I have eaten ashes like bread And mingled my drink with weeping 10 Because e of Your indignation and Your wrath , For You have lifted me up and cast me away . 11 My days are like a lengthened shadow , And I wither away like grass .
12 But You, O Lord , abide forever , And Your name to all generations . 13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion ; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come . 14 Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones And feel pity for her dust . 15 So the nations will fear the name of the Lord And all the kings of the earth Your glory . 16 For the Lord has built up Zion ; He has appeared in His glory . 17 He has regarded the prayer of the destitute And has not despised their prayer . 18 This will be written for the generation to come , That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord . 19 For He looked down from His holy height ; From heaven the Lord gazed upon the earth , 20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner , To set free those who were doomed to death , 21 That men may tell of the name of the Lord in Zion And His praise in Jerusalem , 22 When the peoples are gathered together , And the kingdoms , to serve the Lord .
23 He has weakened my strength in the way ; He has shortened my days . 24 I say , "O my God , do not take me away in the midst of my days , Your years are throughout all generations . 25 "Of old You founded the earth , And the heavens are the work of Your hands . 26 "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 . 27 "But You are the same , And Your years will not come to an end . 28 "The children of Your servants will continue , And their descendants will be established before You."
