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.”

³ What will he do to you,
    and what more besides,
    you deceitful tongue?
⁴ He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,^(E)
    with burning coals of the broom bush.

⁵ Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
    that I live among the tents of Kedar!^(F)
6 Too long have I lived
    among those who hate peace.
⁷ I am for peace;
    but when I speak, they are for war.

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.