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.
The prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and poured out his supplication before the Lord. Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to 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.
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.
3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
For my days are vanished like smoke: and my bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire.
4 My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread.
I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I forgot to eat my bread.
5 Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones.
Through the voice of my groaning, my bone hath cleaved to my flesh.
6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.
I am become like to a pelican of the wilderness: I am like a night raven in the house.
7 I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop.
I have watched, and am become as a sparrow all alone on the housetop.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me; they ridicule me and curse me.
All the day long my enemies reproached me: and they that praised me did swear against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears
For I did eat 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.
Because of thy anger and indignation: for having lifted me up thou hast thrown me down.
11 My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
My days have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like grass.
12 But You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; Your renown endures to all generations.
But thou, O Lord, endurest for ever: and thy memorial to 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.
Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion: for it is time to have mercy on it, for the time is come.
14 For Your servants delight in her stones and take pity on her dust.
For the stones thereof have pleased thy servants: and they shall have pity on the earth thereof.
15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.
And the Gentiles shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
16 For the LORD will rebuild Zion; He has appeared in His glory.
For the Lord hath built up Sion: and he shall be seen in his glory.
17 He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer.
He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he hath not despised their petition.
18 Let this be written for the generation to come, so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.
Let these things be written unto another generation: and the people that 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
Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the Lord hath looked upon the earth.
20 to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,
That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain:
21 that they may proclaim the name of the LORD in Zion and praise Him in Jerusalem,
That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion: and his praise in Jerusalem;
22 when peoples and kingdoms assemble to serve the LORD.
When the people assemble together, and kings, to serve the Lord.
23 He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days.
He answered him in the way of his strength: Declare unto me the fewness of 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.
Call me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are unto generation and generation.
25 In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
In the beginning, O Lord, thou foundedst the earth: and the heavens are the works 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.
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.
27 But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.
But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail.
28 The children of Your servants will dwell securely, and their descendants will be established before You.”
The children of thy servants shall continue: and their seed shall be directed for ever.
