Psalms
(Prayer of a man in misery when he is fainting away and pours out his complaint before Jehovah.)
102 Jehovah, hear my prayer
and let my clamor come in to you.
2 Do not veil your face from me on the day I am in distress;
bend your ear to me;
on the day when I call answer me speedily;
3 For my days have gone off in smoke
and my bones are charring like fuel.
4 My heart is slashed down and dried out like weeds,
for I have forgotten eating my food.
5 By the sound of my moaning
my bones stick to my flesh.
6 I am like a wilderness barn-owl,
I am the same as little owls in wasted sites.
7 I am watchful and uneasy
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day my enemies taunt me,
those who go wild against me make an oath of me,
9 Because I have been eating ashes like bread
and mixing my gulps of drink with weeping
10 Because of your hostility and wrath,
because you have taken me up and thrown me down.
11 My days stoop like a shadow
and I dry out like weeds.
12 But you, Jehovah, are enthroned forever,
and the remembrance of you is for generation after generation.
13 You will stand up and take pity on Sion
when it is time to be gracious to her, when a date comes,
14 Because your servants value her stones
and have a regard for her earth,
15 That nations may fear Jehovah’s name
and all the kings on earth your glory
16 Because Jehovah has rebuilt Sion,
has appeared in his glory,
17 Has turned toward the prayer of the destitute
and not despised their prayer.
18 This shall be written down for a later generation,
and a people that is to be created shall praise Jehovah
19 Because he has looked out from his holy place aloft,
Jehovah from heaven has looked at earth,
20 Hearing a prisoner’s groans,
unchaining men sentenced to death,
21 That Jehovah’s fame may be told of in Sion
and his praise at Jerusalem
22 When peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship Jehovah.
23 He has worn down my strength on the road,
has shortened my days;
24 I say “My God, do not lift me away at half my days;
your years are through a generation of generations.
25 You laid earth’s foundations before,
and heaven is the work of your hands;
26 They will perish, but you will stand;
and they will all wear out like a garment,
Like a dress you will change them and changed they will be,
27 but you are yourself and there will be no end of your years.
28 Your worshipers’ sons shall live in their homes,
and their descendants shall stand fast before you.”