Psalms 102

1 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.

1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.

2 Do not hide Your face from me in my day of distress. Incline Your ear to me; answer me quickly when I call.

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.

3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.

3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.

4 My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread.

4 My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.

5 Through my loud groaning my skin hangs on my bones.

5 By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.

6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.

6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

7 I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop.

7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

8 All day long my enemies taunt me; they ridicule me and curse me.

8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

9 For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears

9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,

10 because of Your indignation and wrath, for You have picked me up and cast me aside.

10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

11 My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

12 But You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; Your renown endures to all generations.

12 But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor—the appointed time has come.

13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

14 For Your servants delight in her stones and take pity on her dust.

14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.

15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

16 For the LORD will rebuild Zion; He has appeared in His glory.

16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

17 He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer.

17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

18 Let this be written for the generation to come, so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.

18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

19 For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth

19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;

20 to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,

20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

21 that they may proclaim the name of the LORD in Zion and praise Him in Jerusalem,

21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

22 when peoples and kingdoms assemble to serve the LORD.

22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

23 He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days.

23 He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

24 I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.

24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.

25 In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

26 They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on.

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:

27 But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.

27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

28 The children of Your servants will dwell securely, and their descendants will be established before You.”

28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.