1

O Lord, unto my pray’r give ear,

my cry let come to thee;

2

And in the day of my distress

hide not thy face from me.

Give ear to me; what time I call,

to answer me make haste:

3

For, as an hearth, my bones are burnt,

my days, like smoke, do waste.

4

My heart within me smitten is,

and it is withered

Like very grass; so that I do

forget to eat my bread.

5

By reason of my groaning voice

my bones cleave to my skin.

6

Like pelican in wilderness

forsaken I have been:

I like an owl in desert am,

that nightly there doth moan;

7

I watch, and like a sparrow am

on the house-top alone.

8

My bitter en’mies all the day

reproaches cast on me;

And, being mad at me, with rage

against me sworn they be.

9

For why? I ashes eaten have

like bread, in sorrows deep;

My drink I also mingled have

with tears that I did weep.

10

Thy wrath and indignation

did cause this grief and pain;

For thou hast lift me up on high,

and cast me down again.

11

My days are like unto a shade,

which doth declining pass;

And I am dry’d and withered,

ev’n like unto the grass.

12

But thou, Lord, everlasting art,

and thy remembrance shall

Continually endure, and be

to generations all.

13

Thou shalt arise, and mercy have

upon thy Sion yet;

The time to favour her is come,

the time that thou hast set.

14

For in her rubbish and her stones

thy servants pleasure take;

Yea, they the very dust thereof

do favour for her sake.

15

So shall the heathen people fear

the Lord’s most holy name;

And all the kings on earth shall dread

thy glory and thy fame.

16

When Sion by the mighty Lord

built up again shall be,

In glory then and majesty

to men appear shall he.

17

The prayer of the destitute

he surely will regard;

Their prayer will he not despise,

by him it shall be heard.

18

For generations yet to come

this shall be on record:

So shall the people that shall be

created praise the Lord.

19

He from his sanctuary’s height

hath downward cast his eye;

And from his glorious throne in heav’n

the Lord the earth did spy;

20

That of the mournful prisoner

the groanings he might hear,

To set them free that unto death

by men appointed are:

21

That they in Sion may declare

the Lord’s most holy name,

And publish in Jerusalem

the praises of the same;

22

When as the people gather shall

in troops with one accord,

When kingdoms shall assembled be

to serve the highest Lord.

23

My wonted strength and force he hath

abated in the way,

And he my days hath shortened:

24

Thus therefore did I say,

My God, in mid-time of my days

take thou me not away:

From age to age eternally

thy years endure and stay.

25

The firm foundation of the earth

of old time thou hast laid;

The heavens also are the work

which thine own hands have made.

26

Thou shalt for evermore endure,

but they shall perish all;

Yea, ev’ry one of them wax old,

like to a garment, shall:

Thou, as a vesture, shalt them change,

and they shall changed be:

27

But thou the same art, and thy years

are to eternity.

28

The children of thy servants shall

continually endure;

And in thy sight, O Lord, their seed

shall be establish’d sure.