| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1LORD, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea! | 1A prayer of one who is afflicted, when he grows faint and pours out his lament before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You. |
| 2Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress. Bend down to listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you. | 2Do not hide Your face from me in my day of distress. Incline Your ear to me; answer me quickly when I call. |
| 3For my days disappear like smoke, and my bones burn like red-hot coals. | 3For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers. |
| 4My heart is sick, withered like grass, and I have lost my appetite. | 4My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread. |
| 5Because of my groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones. | 5Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones. |
| 6I am like an owl in the desert, like a little owl in a far-off wilderness. | 6I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. |
| 7I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof. | 7I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop. |
| 8My enemies taunt me day after day. They mock and curse me. | 8All day long my enemies taunt me; they ridicule me and curse me. |
| 9I eat ashes for food. My tears run down into my drink | 9For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears |
| 10because of your anger and wrath. For you have picked me up and thrown me out. | 10because of Your indignation and wrath, for You have picked me up and cast me aside. |
| 11My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass. | 11My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass. |
| 12But you, O LORD, will sit on your throne forever. Your fame will endure to every generation. | 12But You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; Your renown endures to all generations. |
| 13You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem — and now is the time to pity her, now is the time you promised to help. | 13You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor—the appointed time has come. |
| 14For your people love every stone in her walls and cherish even the dust in her streets. | 14For Your servants delight in her stones and take pity on her dust. |
| 15Then the nations will tremble before the LORD. The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory. | 15So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory. |
| 16For the LORD will rebuild Jerusalem. He will appear in his glory. | 16For the LORD will rebuild Zion; He has appeared in His glory. |
| 17He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas. | 17He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer. |
| 18Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a people not yet born will praise the LORD. | 18Let this be written for the generation to come, so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD. |
| 19Tell them the LORD looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven | 19For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth |
| 20to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die. | 20to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death, |
| 21And so the LORD’s fame will be celebrated in Zion, his praises in Jerusalem, | 21that they may proclaim the name of the LORD in Zion and praise Him in Jerusalem, |
| 22when multitudes gather together and kingdoms come to worship the LORD. | 22when peoples and kingdoms assemble to serve the LORD. |
| 23He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days. | 23He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days. |
| 24But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever, don’t take my life while I am so young! | 24I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations. |
| 25Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. | 25In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. |
| 26They will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. You will change them like a garment and discard them. | 26They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on. |
| 27But you are always the same; you will live forever. | 27But You remain the same, and Your years will never end. |
| 28The children of your people will live in security. Their children’s children will thrive in your presence.” | 28The children of Your servants will dwell securely, and their descendants will be established before You.” |
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