✧A 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. ✧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 vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers. ✧4My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread. ✧5Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones. ✧6I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. ✧7I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop. ✧8All day long my enemies taunt me; they ridicule me and curse me. ✧9For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears ✧10because of Your indignation and wrath, for You have picked me up and cast me aside. ✧11My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass. ✧12But You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; Your renown endures to all generations.