³ For my days vanish like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.^(D)
4 My heart is suffering, withered like grass;^(E)
I even forget to eat my food.^(F)
5 Because of the sound of my groaning,
my flesh sticks to my bones.^(G)
6 I am like an eagle owl,
like a little owl among the ruins.^(H)
7 I stay awake;^(I)
I am like a solitary bird on a roof.
⁸ My enemies taunt me all day long;
they ridicule and use my name as a curse.^(J)
9 I eat ashes like bread
and mingle my drinks with tears^(K)
10 because of your indignation and wrath;
for you have picked me up and thrown me aside.^(L)
11 My days are like a lengthening shadow,
and I wither away like grass.^(M)

¹² But you, Lord, are enthroned forever;^(N)
your fame endures to all generations.^(O)
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her—
the appointed time has come.^(P)
14 For your servants take delight in its stones
and favor its dust.^(Q)

¹⁵ Then the nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,^(R)
16 for the Lord will rebuild Zion;
he will appear in his glory.^(S)
17 He will pay attention to the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.^(T)

¹⁸ This will be written for a later generation,
and a people who have not yet been created will praise the Lord:^(U)
19 He looked down from his holy heights—
the Lord gazed out from heaven to earth^(V)—
²⁰ to hear a prisoner’s groaning,
to set free those condemned to die,^[a](W)
21 so that they might declare
the name of the Lord in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem^(X)
22 when peoples and kingdoms are assembled
to serve the Lord.^(Y)

²³ He has broken my^[b] strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.^(Z)
24 I say, “My God, do not take me
in the middle of my life!^[c]
Your years continue through all generations.^(AA)
25 Long ago you established the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.^(AB)
26 They will perish, but you will endure;
all of them will wear out like clothing.
You will change them like a garment,
and they will pass away.^(AC)
27 But you are the same,
and your years will never end.^(AD)
28 Your servants’ children will dwell securely,
and their offspring will be established before you.”^(AE)

³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,^(A)
but a cunning person takes lives.^(B)

³¹ If the righteous will be repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and sinful.^(C)