³ For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.^(C)
4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
    I am too wasted to eat my bread.^(D)
5 Because of my loud groaning,
    my bones cling to my skin.^(E)
6 I am like a desert owl^[a] of the wilderness,
    like a little owl of the waste places.^(F)
7 I lie awake;
    I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.^(G)
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.^(H)
9 Indeed, I eat ashes like bread
    and mingle tears with my drink,^(I)
10 because of your indignation and anger,
    for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.
¹¹ My days are like a lengthening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.^(J)

¹² But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
    your name endures to all generations.^(K)
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
    for it is time to favor it;
    the appointed time has come.^(L)
14 For your servants hold its stones dear
    and have pity on its dust.
¹⁵ The nations will fear the name of the Lord
    and all the kings of the earth your glory.^(M)
16 For the Lord will build up Zion;
    he will appear in his glory.^(N)
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute
    and will not despise their prayer.^(O)

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:^(P)
19 that he looked down from his holy height,
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,^(Q)
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,^(R)
21 so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion
    and his praise in Jerusalem,^(S)
22 when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to serve the Lord.^(T)

²³ He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.^(U)
24 “O my God,” I say, “do not take me away
    at the midpoint of my life,
you whose years endure
    throughout all generations.”^(V)

²⁵ Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.^(W)
26 They will perish, but you endure;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away,^(X)
27     but you are the same, and your years have no end.^(Y)
28 The children of your servants shall live secure;
    their offspring shall be established in your presence.^(Z)

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to an inhabited town;^(D)
5 hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
⁶ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress;^(E)
7 he led them by a straight way,
    until they reached an inhabited town.^(F)
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to humankind.^(G)
9 For he satisfies the thirsty,
    and the hungry he fills with good things.^(H)

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
    prisoners in misery and in irons,^(I)
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God
    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.^(J)
12 Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor;
    they fell down, with no one to help.^(K)
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress;^(L)
14 he brought them out of darkness and gloom,
    and broke their bonds apart.^(M)
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to humankind.^(N)
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze
    and cuts in two the bars of iron.^(O)

¹⁷ Some were sick^[b] through their sinful ways
    and because of their iniquities endured affliction;^(P)
18 they loathed any kind of food,
    and they drew near to the gates of death.^(Q)
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress;
²⁰ he sent out his word and healed them
    and delivered them from destruction.^(R)
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to humankind.
²² And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices
    and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.^(S)

²³ Some went down to the sea in ships,
    doing business on the mighty waters;
²⁴ they saw the deeds of the Lord,
    his wondrous works in the deep.
²⁵ For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.^(T)
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their calamity;^(U)
27 they reeled and staggered like drunkards
    and were at their wits’ end.^(V)
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he brought them out from their distress;
²⁹ he made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.^(W)
30 Then they were glad because they had quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
³¹ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wonderful works to humankind.^(X)
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people
    and praise him in the assembly of the elders.^(Y)