King James Version KJV
Good News Translation GNT
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
1
Listen to my prayer, O Lord, and hear my cry for help!
2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.
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When I am in trouble, don't turn away from me! Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I call!
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
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My life is disappearing like smoke; my body is burning like fire.
4 My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
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I am beaten down like dry grass; I have lost my desire for food.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.
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I groan aloud; I am nothing but skin and bones.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
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I am like a wild bird in the desert, like an owl in abandoned ruins.
7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
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I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.
8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.
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All day long my enemies insult me; those who mock me use my name in cursing.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
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Because of your anger and fury, ashes are my food, and my tears are mixed with my drink. You picked me up and threw me away.
10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
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My life is like the evening shadows; I am like dry grass.
12 But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
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But you, O Lord, are king forever; all generations will remember you.
13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
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You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time.
14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
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Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins.
15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
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The nations will fear the Lord; all the kings of the earth will fear his power.
16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
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When the Lord rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness.
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
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He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
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Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise him.
19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
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The Lord looked down from his holy place on high, he looked down from heaven to earth.
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
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He heard the groans of prisoners and set free those who were condemned to die.
21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
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And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion, and he will be praised in Jerusalem
22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
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when nations and kingdoms come together and worship the Lord.
23 He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
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The Lord has made me weak while I am still young; he has shortened my life.
24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
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O God, do not take me away now before I grow old. O Lord, you live forever;
25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
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long ago you created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
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They will disappear, but you will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish.
27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
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But you are always the same, and your life never ends.
28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
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Our children will live in safety, and under your protection their descendants will be secure.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.