³ For my days vanish like smoke;^(E)
    my bones^(F) burn like glowing embers.
⁴ My heart is blighted and withered like grass;^(G)
    I forget to eat my food.^(H)
5 In my distress I groan aloud^(I)
    and am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶ I am like a desert owl,^(J)
    like an owl among the ruins.
⁷ I lie awake;^(K) I have become
    like a bird alone^(L) on a roof.
⁸ All day long my enemies^(M) taunt me;^(N)
    those who rail against me use my name as a curse.^(O)
9 For I eat ashes^(P) as my food
    and mingle my drink with tears^(Q)
10 because of your great wrath,^(R)
    for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
¹¹ My days are like the evening shadow;^(S)
    I wither^(T) away like grass.

¹² But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;^(U)
    your renown endures^(V) through all generations.^(W)
13 You will arise^(X) and have compassion^(Y) on Zion,
    for it is time^(Z) to show favor^(AA) to her;
    the appointed time^(AB) has come.
¹⁴ For her stones are dear to your servants;
    her very dust moves them to pity.
¹⁵ The nations will fear^(AC) the name of the Lord,
    all the kings^(AD) of the earth will revere your glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord will rebuild Zion^(AE)
    and appear in his glory.^(AF)
17 He will respond to the prayer^(AG) of the destitute;
    he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸ Let this be written^(AH) for a future generation,
    that a people not yet created^(AI) may praise the Lord:
¹⁹ “The Lord looked down^(AJ) from his sanctuary on high,
    from heaven he viewed the earth,
²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners^(AK)
    and release those condemned to death.”
²¹ So the name of the Lord will be declared^(AL) in Zion
    and his praise^(AM) in Jerusalem
²² when the peoples and the kingdoms
    assemble to worship^(AN) the Lord.

²³ In the course of my life^[b] he broke my strength;
    he cut short my days.^(AO)
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
    your years go on^(AP) through all generations.
²⁵ In the beginning^(AQ) you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens^(AR) are the work of your hands.^(AS)
26 They will perish,^(AT) but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.
²⁷ But you remain the same,^(AU)
    and your years will never end.^(AV)
28 The children of your servants^(AW) will live in your presence;
    their descendants^(AX) will be established before you.”

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;^(C)
    his love endures forever.^(D)

² Who can proclaim the mighty acts^(E) of the Lord
    or fully declare his praise?
³ Blessed are those who act justly,^(F)
    who always do what is right.^(G)

⁴ Remember me,^(H) Lord, when you show favor^(I) to your people,
    come to my aid^(J) when you save them,
⁵ that I may enjoy the prosperity^(K) of your chosen ones,^(L)
    that I may share in the joy^(M) of your nation
    and join your inheritance^(N) in giving praise.

⁶ We have sinned,^(O) even as our ancestors^(P) did;
    we have done wrong and acted wickedly.^(Q)
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
    they gave no thought^(R) to your miracles;
they did not remember^(S) your many kindnesses,
    and they rebelled by the sea,^(T) the Red Sea.^[b]
8 Yet he saved them^(U) for his name’s sake,^(V)
    to make his mighty power^(W) known.
⁹ He rebuked^(X) the Red Sea, and it dried up;^(Y)
    he led them through^(Z) the depths as through a desert.
¹⁰ He saved them^(AA) from the hand of the foe;^(AB)
    from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.^(AC)
11 The waters covered^(AD) their adversaries;
    not one of them survived.
¹² Then they believed his promises
    and sang his praise.^(AE)

¹³ But they soon forgot^(AF) what he had done
    and did not wait for his plan to unfold.^(AG)
14 In the desert^(AH) they gave in to their craving;
    in the wilderness^(AI) they put God to the test.^(AJ)
15 So he gave them^(AK) what they asked for,
    but sent a wasting disease^(AL) among them.

¹⁶ In the camp they grew envious^(AM) of Moses
    and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
¹⁷ The earth opened^(AN) up and swallowed Dathan;^(AO)
    it buried the company of Abiram.^(AP)
18 Fire blazed^(AQ) among their followers;
    a flame consumed the wicked.
¹⁹ At Horeb they made a calf^(AR)
    and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
²⁰ They exchanged their glorious God^(AS)
    for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
²¹ They forgot the God^(AT) who saved them,
    who had done great things^(AU) in Egypt,
²² miracles in the land of Ham^(AV)
    and awesome deeds^(AW) by the Red Sea.
²³ So he said he would destroy^(AX) them—
    had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach^(AY) before him
    to keep his wrath from destroying them.

²⁴ Then they despised^(AZ) the pleasant land;^(BA)
    they did not believe^(BB) his promise.
²⁵ They grumbled^(BC) in their tents
    and did not obey the Lord.
²⁶ So he swore^(BD) to them with uplifted hand
    that he would make them fall in the wilderness,^(BE)
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
    and scatter^(BF) them throughout the lands.

²⁸ They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor^(BG)
    and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
²⁹ they aroused the Lord’s anger^(BH) by their wicked deeds,^(BI)
    and a plague^(BJ) broke out among them.
³⁰ But Phinehas^(BK) stood up and intervened,
    and the plague was checked.^(BL)
31 This was credited to him^(BM) as righteousness
    for endless generations^(BN) to come.
³² By the waters of Meribah^(BO) they angered the Lord,
    and trouble came to Moses because of them;
³³ for they rebelled^(BP) against the Spirit^(BQ) of God,
    and rash words came from Moses’ lips.^[c](BR)

³⁴ They did not destroy^(BS) the peoples
    as the Lord had commanded^(BT) them,
³⁵ but they mingled^(BU) with the nations
    and adopted their customs.
³⁶ They worshiped their idols,^(BV)
    which became a snare^(BW) to them.
³⁷ They sacrificed their sons^(BX)
    and their daughters to false gods.^(BY)
38 They shed innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons^(BZ) and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was desecrated by their blood.
³⁹ They defiled themselves^(CA) by what they did;
    by their deeds they prostituted^(CB) themselves.

⁴⁰ Therefore the Lord was angry^(CC) with his people
    and abhorred his inheritance.^(CD)
41 He gave them into the hands^(CE) of the nations,
    and their foes ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed^(CF) them
    and subjected them to their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them,^(CG)
    but they were bent on rebellion^(CH)
    and they wasted away in their sin.
⁴⁴ Yet he took note of their distress
    when he heard their cry;^(CI)
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant^(CJ)
    and out of his great love^(CK) he relented.^(CL)
46 He caused all who held them captive
    to show them mercy.^(CM)

⁴⁷ Save us,^(CN) Lord our God,
    and gather us^(CO) from the nations,
that we may give thanks^(CP) to your holy name^(CQ)
    and glory in your praise.

⁴⁸ Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”^(CR)

Praise the Lord.

³ Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
    for we have endured no end of contempt.
⁴ We have endured no end
    of ridicule from the arrogant,
    of contempt from the proud.

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord^(I)
    while in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you,^(J) Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof^(K) of my mouth
    if I do not remember^(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem^(M)
    my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites^(N) did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.^(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”^(P)
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,^(Q)
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them^(R) against the rocks.