³ For my days ^[a]are ^(C)consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth.
⁴ My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of the sound of my groaning
My bones cling to my ^[b]skin.
⁶ I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I am like an owl of the desert.
⁷ I lie awake,
And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.

⁸ My enemies reproach me all day long;
Those who deride me swear an oath against me.
⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mingled my drink with weeping,
¹⁰ Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
¹¹ My days are like a shadow that lengthens,
And I wither away like grass.

¹² But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
¹³ You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
¹⁴ For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.
¹⁵ So the ^[c]nations shall ^(D)fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord shall build up Zion;
^(E)He shall appear in His glory.
^17 (F)He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer.

¹⁸ This will be ^(G)written for the generation to come,
That ^(H)a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
¹⁹ For He ^(I)looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
^20 (J)To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
²¹ To ^(K)declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
^22 (L)When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

²³ He weakened my strength in the way;
He ^(M)shortened my days.
^24 (N)I said, “O my God,
Do not take me away in the midst of my days;
^(O)Your years are throughout all generations.
^25 (P)Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
^26 (Q)They will perish, but You will ^[d]endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
²⁷ But ^(R)You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
^28 (S)The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”

^(A)Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

² Who can ^[b]utter the mighty acts of the Lord?
Who can declare all His praise?
³ Blessed are those who keep justice,
And ^[c]he who ^(B)does righteousness at ^(C)all times!

^4 (D)Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people.
Oh, visit me with Your salvation,
⁵ That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with ^[d]Your inheritance.

^6 (E)We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity,
We have done wickedly.
⁷ Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;
They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies,
^(F)But rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.

⁸ Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
^(G)That He might make His mighty power known.
^9 (H)He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up;
So ^(I)He led them through the depths,
As through the wilderness.
¹⁰ He ^(J)saved them from the hand of him who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
^11 (K)The waters covered their enemies;
There was not one of them left.
^12 (L)Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.

^13 (M)They soon forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
^14 (N)But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tested God in the desert.
^15 (O)And He gave them their request,
But ^(P)sent leanness into their soul.

¹⁶ When ^(Q)they envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron the saint of the Lord,
^17 (R)The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan,
And covered the faction of Abiram.
^18 (S)A fire was kindled in their company;
The flame burned up the wicked.

^19 (T)They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped the molded image.
²⁰ Thus ^(U)they changed their glory
Into the image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
²² Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
Awesome things by the Red Sea.
^23 (V)Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one ^(W)stood before Him in the breach,
To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.

²⁴ Then they despised ^(X)the pleasant land;
They ^(Y)did not believe His word,
^25 (Z)But complained in their tents,
And did not heed the voice of the Lord.
^26 (AA)Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them,
^(AB)To ^[e]overthrow them in the wilderness,
^27 (AC)To ^[f]overthrow their descendants among the ^[g]nations,
And to scatter them in the lands.

^28 (AD)They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices ^[h]made to the dead.
²⁹ Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
^30 (AE)Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
And the plague was stopped.
³¹ And that was accounted to him ^(AF)for righteousness
To all generations forevermore.

^32 (AG)They angered Him also at the waters of ^[i]strife,
^(AH)So that it went ill with Moses on account of them;
^33 (AI)Because they rebelled against His Spirit,
So that he spoke rashly with his lips.

^34 (AJ)They did not destroy the peoples,
^(AK)Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them,
^35 (AL)But they mingled with the Gentiles
And learned their works;
^36 (AM)They served their idols,
^(AN)Which became a snare to them.
^37 (AO)They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to ^(AP)demons,
³⁸ And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And ^(AQ)the land was polluted with blood.
³⁹ Thus they ^[j]were ^(AR)defiled by their own works,
And ^(AS)played^[k] the harlot by their own deeds.

⁴⁰ Therefore ^(AT)the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people,
So that He abhorred ^(AU)His own inheritance.
⁴¹ And ^(AV)He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
^43 (AW)Many times He delivered them;
But they rebelled in their counsel,
And were brought low for their iniquity.

⁴⁴ Nevertheless He regarded their affliction,
When ^(AX)He heard their cry;
^45 (AY)And for their sake He remembered His covenant,
And ^(AZ)relented ^(BA)according to the multitude of His mercies.
^46 (BB)He also made them to be pitied
By all those who carried them away captive.

^47 (BC)Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.

^48 (BD)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”

^[l]Praise the Lord!

³ Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
⁴ Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud.

⁴ How shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!
⁶ If I do not remember you,
Let my ^(B)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

⁷ Remember, O Lord, against ^(C)the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, ^[a]“Raze it, raze it,
To its very foundation!”

⁸ O daughter of Babylon, ^(D)who are to be destroyed,
Happy the one ^(E)who repays you as you have served us!
⁹ Happy the one who takes and ^(F)dashes
Your little ones against the rock!