Chapter 102

¹Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come to You.

²Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; incline Your ear to me; in the day I call, answer me quickly.

³For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.

⁴My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I forget to eat my bread.

⁵Because of my loud groaning, my bones cling to my flesh.

⁶I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl among the ruins.

⁷I lie awake; I am like a solitary bird on a housetop.

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me; those who mock me swear against me.

⁹For I eat ashes like bread and mingle my drink with tears,

¹⁰because of Your indignation and Your wrath; for You have lifted me up and cast me down.

¹¹My days are like a shadow that lengthens; I wither like grass.

¹²But You, O LORD, endure forever, and Your name to all generations.

¹³You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For Your servants take pleasure in her stones and cherish her dust.

¹⁵The nations will fear Your name, O LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory.

¹⁶For the LORD will build up Zion; He will appear in His glory.

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

¹⁸This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.

¹⁹For He looked down from His holy height; from heaven the LORD gazed upon the earth,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoner, to set free those appointed to death,

²¹to declare the name of the LORD in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem,

²²when the peoples and kingdoms gather together to serve the LORD.

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

²⁴I said, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years endure through all generations.

²⁵In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will pass away.

²⁷But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.

²⁸The children of Your servants will dwell secure; their offspring will be established before You.”