The Prayer of the Afflicted

¹A prayer of one who is afflicted, when he grows faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.

Hear my prayer, O LORD;

let my cry for help come before You.

²Do not hide Your face from me

in my day of distress.

Incline Your ear to me;

answer me quickly when I call.

³For my days vanish like smoke,

and my bones burn like glowing embers.

⁴My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass;

I even forget to eat my bread.

⁵Through my loud groaning

my skin hangs on my bones.

⁶I am like a desert owl,

like an owl among the ruins.

⁷I lie awake;

I am like a lone bird on a housetop.

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me;

they ridicule me and curse me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread

and mixed my drink with tears

¹⁰because of Your indignation and wrath,

for You have picked me up and cast me aside.

¹¹My days are like lengthening shadows,

and I wither away like grass.

¹²But You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;

Your renown endures to all generations.

¹³You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to show her favor —

the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For Your servants delight in her stones

and take pity on her dust.

¹⁵So the nations will fear the name of the LORD,

and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.

¹⁶For the LORD will rebuild Zion;

He has appeared in His glory.

¹⁷He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute;

He will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸Let this be written for the generation to come,

so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.

¹⁹For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary;

the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth

²⁰to hear a prisoner’s groaning,

to release those condemned to death,

²¹that they may proclaim the name of the LORD in Zion

and praise Him in Jerusalem,

²²when peoples and kingdoms assemble

to serve the LORD.

²³He has broken my strength on the way;

He has cut short my days.

²⁴I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days!

Your years go on through all generations.

²⁵In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but You remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing You will change them,

and they will be passed on.

²⁷But You remain the same,

and Your years will never end.^a

²⁸The children of Your servants will dwell securely,

and their descendants will be established before You.”