1  Lord, you have been ^pour dwelling place¹

in all generations.

2  ^qBefore the mountains were brought forth,

or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

^rfrom everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3  You ^sreturn man to dust

and say, “Return, O children of man!”²

4  For ^ta thousand years in your sight

are but as yesterday when it is past,

or as a watch in the night.

5  You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,

like grass that is renewed in the morning:

6  in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

in the evening it fades and withers.

7  For we are brought to an end by your anger;

by your wrath we are dismayed.

8  You have set our iniquities before you,

our ^usecret sins in the light of your presence.

9  For all our days pass away under your wrath;

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10  The years of our life are seventy,

or even by reason of strength eighty;

^vyet their span³ is but toil and trouble;

^wthey are soon gone, and we fly away.

11  Who considers the power of your anger,

and your wrath according to the fear of you?

12  So ^xteach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

13  Return, O Lord! How long?

^yHave pity on your servants!

14  Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15  Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

and for as many years as we have seen evil.

16  Let your work be shown to your servants,

and your glorious power to their children.

17  Let the favor⁴ of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands upon us;

yes, establish the work of our hands!

1  ^wWhy, O Lord, do you stand far away?

Why do you ^xhide yourself in times of trouble?

2  In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;

^ylet them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

3  For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,

and the one ^zgreedy for gain curses¹ and renounces the Lord.

4  In the pride of his face² the wicked does not seek him;³

all his thoughts are, ^a“There is no God.”

5  His ways prosper at all times;

your judgments are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

6  He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;

throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

7  ^bHis mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

8  He sits in ambush in the villages;

^cin hiding places he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;

9  he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;

he lurks that he may seize the poor;

he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

10  The helpless are crushed, sink down,

and fall by his might.

11  He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,

he has hidden his face, ^dhe will never see it.”

12  Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;

^eforget not the afflicted.

13  Why does the wicked renounce God

and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?

14  But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,

that you may take it into your hands;

to you the helpless commits himself;

^fyou have been the helper of the fatherless.

15  Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

^gcall his wickedness to account till you find none.

16  ^hThe Lord is king forever and ever;

the nations perish from his land.

17  O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

18  to do ⁱjustice to the fatherless and the ^joppressed,

^kso that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.