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.”

²⁰ “No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
^(D)But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
^21 (E)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and ^(F)another eat;
For ^(G)as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And ^(H)My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³ They shall not labor in vain,
^(I)Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For ^(J)they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord,
And their offspring with them.

²⁴ “It shall come to pass
That ^(K)before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will ^(L)hear.
²⁵ The ^(M)wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
^(N)And dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”
Says the Lord.