1The prayer of a poor man, when he was anguished, and shedded out his speech before the Lord. Lord, hear thou my prayer; and my cry come to thee. (A prayer of a poor man, when he was anguished, and poured out his words before the Lord. Lord, hear thou my prayer; and let my cry come unto thee.)

2Turn not away thy face from me; in whatever day I am troubled, bow down thine ear to me. In whatever day I shall inwardly call thee; hear thou me swiftly. (Turn not away thy face from me; on whatever day I am troubled, bow down thy ear to me. On whatever day that I shall call to thee, please swiftly answer thou me.)

3For my days have failed as smoke; and my bones have dried up as croutons/as cracklings, either (the) leaving (s) of frying. (For my days have vanished like smoke; and my bones have dried up like croutons.)

4I am smitten as hay, and mine heart (hath) dried up; for I have forgotten to eat my bread. (I am beaten down like dry grass; and I have forgotten to eat my food.)

5Of the voice of my wailing; my bone cleaved to my flesh. (My voice waileth; for my bones cleave to my flesh.)

6I am made like a pelican of (the) wilderness; I am made as a night crow in an house.

7I waked; and I am made as a solitary sparrow in the roof. (I lie awake; and I am like a solitary sparrow on the rooftop.)

8All day mine enemies despised me; and they that praised me swore against me. (All day long my enemies despise me; and those who be angry with me or and those who mock me, conspire against me.)

9For I ate ashes as bread; and I meddled my drink with weeping. (For I have eaten ashes for food; and I have mixed my tears with my drink.)

10From the face of the ire of thine indignation; for thou raising me [up] hast hurtled me down. (All because of thy anger, and thy indignation; for first thou hast raised me up, and then thou hast hurtled me down.)

11My days bowed away as a shadow; and I waxed dry as hay. (My days disappeared like a shadow; and I am dried up like the hay, or the grass.)

12But, Lord, thou dwellest [into] without end; and thy memorial in generation and into generation. (But, Lord, thou livest forever; and shalt be remembered by all generations.)

13Lord, thou rising up, shalt have mercy on Zion, (or Lord, thou shalt rise up, and have mercy on Zion); for the time to have mercy thereof cometh, for the time cometh.

14For the stones thereof pleased thy servants; and they shall have mercy on the land thereof. (For its stones pleased thy servants; and they even love its dust.)

15And, Lord, heathen men shall dread thy name; and all kings of earth shall dread thy glory. (And, Lord, the heathen shall fear thy name; and all the kings of the earth shall fear thy glory.)

16For the Lord hath built [up] Zion; and he shall be seen in his glory. (And when the Lord buildeth up Zion again; he shall be seen in all his glory.)

17He beheld on the prayer of meek men; and he despised not the prayer of them. (He heareth the prayers of the humble; and he did not despise their prayers.)

18Be these things written in another generation; and the people that shall be made shall praise the Lord. (These things be written for another generation; and then those people, yet to be, shall praise the Lord.)

19For he beheld from his high holy place; the Lord looked from heaven into earth (or the Lord looked down from heaven onto the earth).

20For to hear the wailings of fettered men; and for to unbind the sons of slain men.

21That they tell in Zion the name of the Lord; and his praising in Jerusalem. (So that they tell out the Lord’s name in Zion; and his praises in Jerusalem.)

22In gathering together peoples into one; and kings, that they serve the Lord. (Yea, when all peoples, and kingdoms, shall be gathered together into one, to serve the Lord.)

23It answered to him in the way of his virtue; Tell thou to me the fewness of my days. (But he hath weakened my strength along the way; he hath shortened my days.)

24Again-call thou not me in the middle of my days; thy years be in generation and into generation. (Please do not call me back in the middle of my days; thy years last or continue for all generations.)

25Lord, thou foundedest the earth in the beginning; and (the) heavens be the works of thine hands.

26Those shall perish, but thou dwellest perfectly; and all shall wax eld as a cloth. And thou shalt change them as a covering, and those shall be changed; (They shall perish, but thou shalt live forever; all of them shall grow old like a cloak. And thou shalt change them like a covering, and they shall be changed;)

27but thou art the same thyself, and thy years shall not fail. (but thou thyself art the same, and thy years shall have no end.)

28The sons of thy servants shall dwell; and the seed of them shall be (ad)dressed, (or directed), into the world. (The sons and daughters of thy servants shall live; and their children shall be secure before thee or and their descendants shall be established before thee.)