Psalm 102-103

Complete Jewish Bible

102 ⁽⁰⁾Prayer of a sufferer overcome by weakness and pouring out his complaint before Adonai:

²⁽¹⁾Adonai, hear my prayer!
Let my cry for help reach you!
³⁽²⁾Don’t hide your face from me
when I am in such distress!
Turn your ear toward me;
when I call, be quick to reply!

⁴⁽³⁾For my days are vanishing like smoke,
my bones are burning like a furnace.
⁵⁽⁴⁾I am stricken and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
⁶⁽⁵⁾Because of my loud groaning,
I am just skin and bones.
⁷⁽⁶⁾I am like a great owl in the desert,
I’ve become like an owl in the ruins.
⁸⁽⁷⁾I lie awake and become
like a bird alone on the roof.

⁹⁽⁸⁾My enemies taunt me all day long;
mad with rage, they make my name a curse.
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾For I have been eating ashes like bread
and mingling tears with my drink
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾because of your furious anger,
since you picked me up just to toss me aside.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾My days decline like an evening shadow;
I am drying up like grass.

¹³⁽¹²⁾But you, Adonai, are enthroned forever;
your renown will endure through all generations.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾You will arise and take pity on Tziyon,
for the time has come to have mercy on her;
the time determined has come.
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾For your servants love her very stones;
they take pity even on her dust.

¹⁶⁽¹⁵⁾The nations will fear the name of Adonai
and all the kings on earth your glory,
¹⁷⁽¹⁶⁾when Adonai has rebuilt Tziyon,
and shows himself in his glory,
¹⁸⁽¹⁷⁾when he has heeded the plea of the poor
and not despised their prayer.
¹⁹⁽¹⁸⁾May this be put on record for a future generation;
may a people yet to be created praise Adonai.

²⁰⁽¹⁹⁾For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary;
from heaven Adonai surveys the earth
²¹⁽²⁰⁾to listen to the sighing of the prisoner,
to set free those who are sentenced to death,
²²⁽²¹⁾to proclaim the name of Adonai in Tziyon
and his praise in Yerushalayim
²³⁽²²⁾when peoples and kingdoms have been gathered together
to serve Adonai.

²⁴⁽²³⁾He has broken my strength in midcourse,
he has cut short my days.
²⁵⁽²⁴⁾I plead, “God, your years last through all generations;
so don’t take me away when my life is half over!

²⁶⁽²⁵⁾In the beginning, you laid the foundations of the earth;
heaven is the work of your hands.
²⁷⁽²⁶⁾They will vanish, but you will remain;
like clothing, they will all grow old;
yes, you will change them like clothing,
and they will pass away.
²⁸⁽²⁷⁾But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
²⁹⁽²⁸⁾The children of your servants will live securely
and their descendants be established in your presence.”

103 ⁽⁰⁾By David:

⁽¹⁾Bless Adonai, my soul!
Everything in me, bless his holy name!
²Bless Adonai, my soul,
and forget none of his benefits!

³He forgives all your offenses,
he heals all your diseases,
⁴he redeems your life from the pit,
he surrounds you with grace and compassion,
⁵he contents you with good as long as you live,
so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

⁶Adonai brings vindication and justice
to all who are oppressed.
⁷He made his ways known to Moshe,
his mighty deeds to the people of Isra’el.
⁸Adonai is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in grace.
⁹He will not always accuse,
he will not keep his anger forever.
¹⁰He has not treated us as our sins deserve
or paid us back for our offenses,
¹¹because his mercy toward those who fear him
is as far above earth as heaven.
¹²He has removed our sins from us
as far as the east is from the west.

¹³Just as a father has compassion on his children,
Adonai has compassion on those who fear him.
¹⁴For he understands how we are made,
he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵Yes, a human being’s days are like grass,
he sprouts like a flower in the countryside —
¹⁶but when the wind sweeps over, it’s gone;
and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷But the mercy of Adonai on those who fear him
is from eternity past to eternity future,
and his righteousness extends
to his children’s children,
¹⁸provided they keep his covenant
and remember to follow his precepts.

¹⁹Adonai has established his throne in heaven;
his kingly power rules everything.
²⁰Bless Adonai, you angels of his,
you mighty warriors who obey his word,
who carry out his orders!
²¹Bless Adonai, all his troops,
who serve him and do what he wants!
²²Bless Adonai, all his works,
in every place where he rules!
Bless Adonai, my soul!