Readings

¹Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come before you; *hide not your face from me in the day of my trouble.

²Incline your ear to me; *when I call, make haste to answer me,

³For my days drift away like smoke, *and my bones are hot as burning coals.

⁴My heart is smitten like grass and withered, *so that I forget to eat my bread.

⁵Because of the voice of my groaning *I am but skin and bones.

⁶I have become like a vulture in the wilderness, *like an owl among the ruins.

⁷I lie awake and groan; *I am like a sparrow, lonely on a house-top.

⁸My enemies revile me all day long, *and those who scoff at me have taken an oath against me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes for bread *and mingled my drink with weeping.

¹⁰Because of your indignation and wrath *you have lifted me up and thrown me away.

¹¹My days pass away like a shadow, *and I wither like the grass.

¹²But you, O Lord, endure for ever, *and your Name from age to age.

¹³You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to have mercy upon her; *indeed, the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For your servants love her very rubble, *and are moved to pity even for her dust.

¹⁵The nations shall fear your Name, O Lord, *and all the kings of the earth your glory.

¹⁶For the Lord will build up Zion, *and his glory will appear.

¹⁷He will look with favor on the prayer of the homeless; *he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸Let this be written for a future generation, *so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord.

¹⁹For the Lord looked down from his holy place on high; *from the heavens he beheld the earth;

²⁰That he might hear the groan of the captive *and set free those condemned to die;

²¹That they may declare in Zion the Name of the Lord, *and his praise in Jerusalem;

²²When the peoples are gathered together, *and the kingdoms also, to serve the Lord.

²³He has brought down my strength before my time; *he has shortened the number of my days;

²⁴And I said, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days; *your years endure throughout all generations.

²⁵In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, *and the heavens are the work of your hands;

²⁶They shall perish, but you will endure; they all shall wear out like a garment; *as clothing you will change them, and they shall be changed;

²⁷But you are always the same, *and your years will never end.

²⁸The children of your servants shall continue, *and their offspring shall stand fast in your sight.”