PSALM 102

Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.

A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and †pours out his complaint before the Lord.

1 aHear my prayer, O Lord!

And let my cry for help bcome to You.

2 aDo not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;

bIncline Your ear to me;

In the day when I call aanswer me quickly.

3 For my days ahave been 1consumed in smoke,

And my bbones have been scorched like a hearth.

4 My heart ahas been smitten like 1grass and has bwithered away,

Indeed, I cforget to eat my bread.

5 Because of the 1loudness of my groaning

My abones 2cling to my flesh.

6 I 1resemble a apelican of the wilderness;

I have become like an owl of the waste places.

7 I alie awake,

I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

8 My enemies ahave reproached me all day long;

Those who 1bderide me 2have used my name as a ccurse.

9 For I have eaten ashes like bread

And amingled my drink with weeping

10 aBecause of Your indignation and Your wrath,

For You have blifted me up and cast me away.

11 My days are like a 1alengthened shadow,

And 2I bwither away like 3grass.

12 But You, O Lord, 1aabide forever,

And Your 2bname to all generations.

13 You will aarise and have bcompassion on Zion;

For cit is time to be gracious to her,

For the dappointed time has come.

14 Surely Your servants 1find pleasure in her stones

And feel pity for her dust.

15 1So the 2anations will fear the name of the Lord

And ball the kings of the earth Your glory.

16 For the Lord has abuilt up Zion;

He has bappeared in His glory.

17 He has aregarded the prayer of the 1destitute

And has not despised their prayer.

18 1This will be awritten for the bgeneration to come,

2That ca people yet to be created 3may praise 4the Lord.

19 For He alooked down from His holy height;

bFrom heaven the Lord gazed 1upon the earth,

20 To hear the agroaning of the prisoner,

To bset free 1those who were doomed to death,

21 That men may atell of the name of the Lord in Zion

And His praise in Jerusalem,

22 When athe peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

23 He has weakened my strength in the way;

He has ashortened my days.

24 I say, “O my God, ado not take me away in the 1midst of my days,

Your byears are throughout all generations.

25 “Of old You afounded the earth,

And the bheavens are the work of Your hands.

26 “1Even they will aperish, but You endure;

And all of them will wear out like a garment;

Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.

27 “But You are 1athe same,

And Your years will not come to an end.

28 “The achildren of Your servants will continue,

And their 1bdescendants will be established before You.”