Psalms 102
1 A Prayer of the man who is in trouble, when he is overcome, and puts his grief before the Lord. Give ear to my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you.
A Prayer for the Poor; when he is deeply afflicted, and pours out his supplication before the Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you.
2 Let not your face be veiled from me in the day of my trouble; give ear to me, and let my cry be answered quickly.
Turn not away your face from me: in the day [when] I am afflicted, incline your ear to me: in the day [when] I shall call upon you, speedily hear me.
3 My days are wasted like smoke, and my bones are burned up as in a fire.
For my days have vanished like smoke, and my bones have been parched like a stick.
4 My heart is broken; it has become dry and dead like grass, so that I give no thought to food.
I am blighted like grass, and my heart is dried up; for I have forgotten to eat my bread.
5 Because of the voice of my sorrow, my flesh is wasted to the bone.
By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bone has cleaved to my flesh.
6 I am like a bird living by itself in the waste places; like the night-bird in a waste of sand.
I have become like a pelican of the wilderness;
7 I keep watch like a bird by itself on the house-top.
I have become like an owl in a ruined house. I have watched, and am become as a sparrow dwelling alone on a roof.
8 My haters say evil of me all day; those who are violent against me make use of my name as a curse.
All the day long mine enemies have reproached me; and they that praised me have sworn against me.
9 I have had dust for bread and my drink has been mixed with weeping:
For I have eaten ashes as it were bread, and mingled my drink with weeping;
10 Because of your passion and your wrath, for I have been lifted up and then made low by you.
because of your anger and your wrath: for you have lifted me up, and dashed me down.
11 My days are like a shade which is stretched out; I am dry like the grass.
My days have declined like a shadow; and I am withered like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, are eternal; and your name will never come to an end.
But you, Lord, endure for ever, and your memorial to generation and generation.
13 You will again get up and have mercy on Zion: for the time has come for her to be comforted.
You shall arise, and have mercy upon Sion: for [it is] time to have mercy upon her, for the set time is come.
14 For your servants take pleasure in her stones, looking with love on her dust.
For your servants have taken pleasure in her stones, and they shall pity her dust.
15 So the nations will give honour to the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will be in fear of his glory:
So the nations shall fear your name, O Lord, and all kings your glory.
16 When the Lord has put up the walls of Zion, and has been been in his glory;
For the Lord shall build up Sion, and shall appear in his glory.
17 When he has given ear to the prayer of the poor, and has not put his request on one side.
He has had regard to the prayer of the lowly, and has not despised their petition.
18 This will be put in writing for the coming generation, and the people of the future will give praise to the Lord.
Let this be written for another generation; and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord.
19 For from his holy place the Lord has seen, looking down on the earth from heaven;
For he has looked out from the height of his sanctuary; the Lord looked upon the earth from heaven;
20 Hearing the cry of the prisoner, making free those for whom death is ordered;
to hear the groaning of the fettered ones, to loosen the sons of the slain;
21 So that they may give out the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
to proclaim the name of the Lord in Sion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
22 When the peoples are come together, and the kingdoms, to give worship to the Lord.
when the people are gathered together, and the kings, to serve the Lord.
23 He has taken my strength from me in the way; he has made short my days.
He answered him in the way of his strength: tell me the fewness of my days.
24 I will say, O my God, take me not away before my time; your years go on through all generations:
Take me not away in the midst of my days: your years [are] through all generations.
25 In the past you put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
In the beginning you, O Lord, did lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands.
26 They will come to an end, but you will still go on; they all will become old like a coat, and like a robe they will be changed:
They shall perish, but you remain: and [they all] shall wax old as a garment; and as a vesture shall you fold them, and they shall be changed.
27 But you are the unchanging One, and your years will have no end.
But you are the same, and your years shall not fail.
28 The children of your servants will have a safe resting-place, and their seed will be ever before you.
The children of your servants shall dwell [securely], and their seed shall prosper for ever.
