1  ^yHear my prayer, O Lord;

let my cry come to you!

2  Do not ^zhide your face from me

in the day of my distress!

Incline your ear to me;

^aanswer me speedily in the day when I call!

3  For my days pass away like ^bsmoke,

and my ^cbones burn like a furnace.

4  My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;

I forget to eat my bread.

5  Because of my loud groaning

^dmy bones cling to my flesh.

6  I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,

like an owl¹ of the waste places;

7  I lie awake;

I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.

8  All the day my enemies taunt me;

those who deride me use my name for a curse.

9  For ^eI eat ashes like bread

and mingle tears with my drink,

10  because of your indignation and anger;

for you have taken me up and thrown me down.

11  My days are like an evening ^fshadow;

I wither away like grass.

12  But you, O Lord, are ^genthroned forever;

you are remembered throughout all generations.

13  You will arise and have pity on Zion;

it is the time to favor her;

the appointed time has come.

14  For your servants hold her stones dear

and have pity on her dust.