1(A tefillah of one afflicted; when he is faint, he pours out his si'akh [complaint] before Hashem)

2Hear my tefillah, Hashem,
and let my cry for help come unto Thee.

3Hide not Thy face from me in the yom tzar (day of distress);
incline Thine ear unto me;
in the yom when I call, answer me speedily.

4For my yamim are consumed like ashan (smoke),
and my atzmot burn like a furnace.

5My lev is struck, and withered like esev;
so that I forget to eat my lechem.

6By reason of the voice of my groaning
my atzmot have deveykus to my basar.

7I am like a bird of the midbar;
I am like an owl of the desert.

8I keep watch, and am like a tzippor (bird)
alone upon the gag (housetop, roof).

9Mine oyevim (enemies) reproach me kol hayom;
and they that revile me curse by me.

10For I have eaten ashes like lechem,
and mingled my drink with tears.

11Because of Thine za'am (indignation) and Thy ketsef (wrath, anger);
for Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

12My days are like a tzel (shadow) that lengtheneth;
and I am withered like esev (grass).

13But Thou, Hashem, shall endure l'olam;
and Thy memory unto dor vador.

14Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Tziyon;
for the time to favor her,
the mo'ed (set time, appointed time) has come.

15For Thy avadim cherish her avanim (stones),
and pity her aphar.

16So the Goyim shall fear the Shem Hashem,
and all the melachim of ha'aretz will revere Thy glory.

17When Hashem shall build up Tziyon,
He shall appear in His Kavod.

18He will regard the tefillah of the destitute,
and not despise their tefillah.

19This shall be written for a dor acharon (future generation);
and the people which shall be created shall praise Hashem.

20For He hath looked down from the height of His Kodesh;
from Shomayim did Hashem behold Eretz;

21To hear the groaning of the asir (prisoner);
to release those that are bnei temutah (men ¹²⁹death);

22To declare the Shem Hashem in Tziyon,
and His tehillah (praise) in Yerushalayim;

23When the peoples are gathered together in assembly,
and the mamlachot (kingdoms), to serve Hashem.

24He bowed down my ko'ach in the derech;
He cut short my yamim.

25I said, O my G-d,
take me not away in the midst of my yamim;
Thy years are dor dorim (throughout all generations).

26Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of ha'aretz;
and Shomayim is the ma'aseh (work) of Thy hands.

27They shall perish, but Thou shalt remain;
and all of them shall wear out like a beged (garment);
like a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed;

28But Thou art the same,
and Thy shanot (years) shall have no end.

29The children of Thy avadim shall dwell,
and their zera shall be established before Thee.