Psalms - Chapter 102

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

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.

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.

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.

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

3 My days are wasted like smoke, and my bones are burned up as in a fire.

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

4 My heart is broken; it has become dry and dead like grass, so that I give no thought to food.

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

5 Because of the voice of my sorrow, my flesh is wasted to the bone.

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

6 I am like a bird living by itself in the waste places; like the night-bird in a waste of sand.

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

7 I keep watch like a bird by itself on the house-top.

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

8 My haters say evil of me all day; those who are violent against me make use of my name as a curse.

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

9 I have had dust for bread and my drink has been mixed with weeping:

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

10 Because of your passion and your wrath, for I have been lifted up and then made low by you.

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

11 My days are like a shade which is stretched out; I am dry like the grass.

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

12 But you, O Lord, are eternal; and your name will never come to an end.

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

13 You will again get up and have mercy on Zion: for the time has come for her to be comforted.

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

14 For your servants take pleasure in her stones, looking with love on her dust.

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

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:

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

16 When the Lord has put up the walls of Zion, and has been been in his glory;

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

17 When he has given ear to the prayer of the poor, and has not put his request on one side.

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

18 This will be put in writing for the coming generation, and the people of the future will give praise to the Lord.

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

19 For from his holy place the Lord has seen, looking down on the earth from heaven;

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

20 Hearing the cry of the prisoner, making free those for whom death is ordered;

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

21 So that they may give out the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

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

22 When the peoples are come together, and the kingdoms, to give worship to the Lord.

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

23 He has taken my strength from me in the way; he has made short my days.

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

24 I will say, O my God, take me not away before my time; your years go on through all generations:

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

25 In the past you put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

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:

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:

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

27 But you are the unchanging One, and your years will have no end.

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

28 The children of your servants will have a safe resting-place, and their seed will be ever before you.