Oratio pauperis, cum anxius fuerit, et in conspectu Domini effuderit precem suam.

(A prayer for the friendless man, when he is troubled, and is pouring out his griefs before the Lord.)

The prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and poured out his supplication before the Lord.

Domine, exaudi orationem meam, et clamor meus ad te veniat.

O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee.

Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to thee.

Non avertas faciem tuam a me: in quacumque die tribulor, inclina ad me aurem tuam; in quacumque die invocavero te, velociter exaudi me.

Do not turn thy face away from me, but lend me thy ear in time of affliction; give me swift audience whenever I call upon thee.

Turn not away thy face from me: in the day when I am in trouble, incline thy ear to me. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily.

Quia defecerunt sicut fumus dies mei, et ossa mea sicut cremium aruerunt.

See how this life of mine passes away like smoke, how this frame wastes like a tinder!

For my days are vanished like smoke: and my bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire.

Percussus sum ut fœnum, et aruit cor meum, quia oblitus sum comedere panem meum.

Drained of strength, like grass the sun scorches, I leave my food untasted, forgotten;

I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I forgot to eat my bread.

A voce gemitus mei adhæsit os meum carni meæ.

I am spent with sighing, till my skin clings to my bones.

Through the voice of my groaning, my bone hath cleaved to my flesh.

Similis factus sum pellicano solitudinis; factus sum sicut nycticorax in domicilio.

I am no better than a pelican out in the desert, an owl on some ruined dwelling;

I am become like to a pelican of the wilderness: I am like a night raven in the house.

Vigilavi, et factus sum sicut passer solitarius in tecto.

I keep mournful watch, lonely as a single sparrow on the house top.

I have watched, and am become as a sparrow all alone on the housetop.

Tota die exprobrabant mihi inimici mei, et qui laudabant me adversum me jurabant:

Still my enemies taunt me, in their mad rage make a by-word of me.

All the day long my enemies reproached me: and they that praised me did swear against me.

quia cinerem tamquam panem manducabam, et potum meum cum fletu miscebam,

Ashes are all my food, I drink nothing but what comes to me mingled with my tears;

For I did eat ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.

a facie iræ et indignationis tuæ: quia elevans allisisti me.

I shrink before thy vengeful anger, so low thou hast brought me, who didst once lift me so high.

Because of thy anger and indignation: for having lifted me up thou hast thrown me down.

Dies mei sicut umbra declinaverunt, et ego sicut fœnum arui.

Like a tapering shadow my days dwindle, wasting away, like grass in the sun!

My days have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like grass.

Tu autem, Domine, in æternum permanes, et memoriale tuum in generationem et generationem.

Lord, thou endurest for ever, thy name, age after age, is not forgotten;

But thou, O Lord, endurest for ever: and thy memorial to all generations.

Tu exsurgens misereberis Sion, quia tempus miserendi ejus, quia venit tempus:

surely thou wilt bestir thyself, and give Sion redress! It is time, now, to take pity on her, the hour has come.

Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion: for it is time to have mercy on it, for the time is come.

quoniam placuerunt servis tuis lapides ejus, et terræ ejus miserebuntur.

See how thy servants love her even in ruin, how they water her dust with their tears!

For the stones thereof have pleased thy servants: and they shall have pity on the earth thereof.

Et timebunt gentes nomen tuum, Domine, et omnes reges terræ gloriam tuam:

Will not the heathen learn reverence, Lord, for thy glorious name, all those monarchs of the earth,

All the Gentiles shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

quia ædificavit Dominus Sion, et videbitur in gloria sua.

when they hear that the Lord has built Sion anew; that he has revealed himself there in glory,

For the Lord hath built up Sion: and he shall be seen in his glory.

Respexit in orationem humilium et non sprevit precem eorum.

has given heed to the prayer of the afflicted, neglects their appeal no more?

He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he hath not despised their petition.

Scribantur hæc in generatione altera, et populus qui creabitur laudabit Dominum.

Such legend inscribe we for a later age to read it; a new people will arise, to praise the Lord;

Let these things be written unto another generation: and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord:

Quia prospexit de excelso sancto suo; Dominus de cælo in terram aspexit:

the Lord, who looks down from his sanctuary on high, viewing earth from heaven,

Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the Lord hath looked upon the earth.

ut audiret gemitus compeditorum; ut solveret filios interemptorum:

who has listened to the groans of the prisoners, delivered a race that was doomed to die.

That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain:

ut annuntient in Sion nomen Domini, et laudem ejus in Jerusalem:

There will be talk of the Lord’s name in Sion, of his praise in Jerusalem,

That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion: and his praise in Jerusalem;

in conveniendo populos in unum, et reges, ut serviant Domino.

when peoples and kings meet there to pay him their homage.

When the people assemble together, and kings, to serve the Lord.

Respondit ei in via virtutis suæ: Paucitatem dierum meorum nuntia mihi:

Here, on my journey, he has brought my strength to an end, cut short my days.

He answered him in the way of his strength: Declare unto me the fewness of my days.

ne revoces me in dimidio dierum meorum, in generationem et generationem anni tui.

What, my God, wilt thou snatch me away, my life half done? Age after age thy years endure;

Call me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are unto generation and generation.

Initio tu, Domine, terram fundasti, et opera manuum tuarum sunt cæli.

it was thou, Lord, that didst lay the foundations of earth when time began, it was thy hand that built the heavens.

In the beginning, O Lord, thou foundedst the earth: and the heavens are the works of thy hands.

Ipsi peribunt, tu autem permanes; et omnes sicut vestimentum veterascent. Et sicut opertorium mutabis eos, et mutabuntur;

They will perish, but thou wilt remain; they will all be like a cloak that grows threadbare, and thou wilt lay them aside like a garment, and exchange them for new;

They shall perish but thou remainest: and all of them shall grow old like a garment: And as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed.

tu autem idem ipse es, et anni tui non deficient.

thou art unchanging, thy years can never fail.

But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail.

Filii servorum tuorum habitabunt, et semen eorum in sæculum dirigetur.

The posterity of thy servants shall yet hold their lands in peace, their race shall live on in thy keeping.

The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be directed for ever.