Psalm 102
New American Standard Bible
Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.
A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and [a]pours out his complaint before the Lord.
102 (A)Hear my prayer, Lord!
And let my cry for help (B)come to You.
2 (C)Do not hide Your face from me on the day of my distress;
(D)Incline Your ear to me;
On the day when I call (E)answer me quickly.
3 For my days (F)have ended in smoke,
And my (G)bones have been scorched like a hearth.
4 My heart (H)has been struck like [b]grass and has (I)withered,
Indeed, I (J)forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the [c]loudness of my groaning
My (K)bones [d]cling to my flesh.
6 I resemble a (L)pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the ruins.
7 I (M)lie awake,
I have become like a solitary bird on a housetop.
8 My enemies (N)have taunted me all day long;
Those who [e](O)deride me [f]have used my name as a (P)curse.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And (Q)mixed my drink with weeping
10 (R)Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have (S)lifted me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a [g](T)lengthened shadow,
And [h]I (U)wither away like [i]grass.
12 But You, Lord, [j](V)remain forever,
And Your [k](W)name remains to all generations.
13 You will (X)arise and have (Y)compassion on Zion;
For (Z)it is time to be gracious to her,
For the (AA)appointed time has come.
14 Surely Your servants [l]take pleasure in her stones,
And feel pity for her dust.
15 [m]So the [n](AB)nations will fear the name of the Lord,
And (AC)all the kings of the earth, Your glory.
16 For the Lord has (AD)built up Zion;
He has (AE)appeared in His glory.
17 He has (AF)turned His attention to the prayer of the [o]destitute
And has not despised their prayer.
18 [p]This will be (AG)written for the (AH)generation to come,
[q]That (AI)a people yet to be created [r]may praise [s]the Lord:
19 For He (AJ)looked down from His holy height;
(AK)From heaven the Lord looked [t]upon the earth,
20 To hear the (AL)groaning of the prisoner,
To (AM)set free [u]those who were doomed to death,
21 So that people may (AN)tell of the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 When (AO)the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
23 He has broken my strength in the way;
He has (AP)shortened my days.
24 I say, “My God, (AQ)do not take me away in the middle of my days,
Your (AR)years are [v]throughout all generations.
25 In time of old You (AS)founded the earth,
And the (AT)heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 [w]Even they will (AU)perish, but You endure;
All of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they will pass away.
27 But You are [x](AV)the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.
28 The (AW)children of Your servants will continue,
And their [y](AX)descendants will be established before You.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 102 Title Ps 142:2
- Psalm 102:4 Lit herbage
- Psalm 102:5 Lit voice
- Psalm 102:5 Lit have cleaved
- Psalm 102:8 Or made a fool of
- Psalm 102:8 Lit have sworn by me
- Psalm 102:11 Lit stretched out
- Psalm 102:11 Or as for me, I
- Psalm 102:11 Lit herbage
- Psalm 102:12 Or sit enthroned
- Psalm 102:12 Lit memorial
- Psalm 102:14 Or have found
- Psalm 102:15 Or And
- Psalm 102:15 Or Gentiles, heathen
- Psalm 102:17 Or naked
- Psalm 102:18 Or Let this be written
- Psalm 102:18 Or And
- Psalm 102:18 Or will
- Psalm 102:18 Heb Yah
- Psalm 102:19 Lit toward
- Psalm 102:20 Lit the sons of death
- Psalm 102:24 Lit in generation of generations
- Psalm 102:26 Lit They themselves
- Psalm 102:27 Lit He
- Psalm 102:28 Lit seed
Psalm 102
Lexham English Bible
A Plea for Personal and National Help
A prayer of one afflicted, when he grows faint
and pours out his lament before Yahweh.[a]
102 O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my trouble.
Incline your ear to me.
In the day I call, answer me quickly,
3 for my days vanish in smoke,
and my bones are charred like a hearth.
4 My heart is struck like grass and withers.
Indeed, I forget to eat[b] my bread.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning
my bones[c] cling to my skin.[d]
6 I am like an owl[e] of the wilderness;
I am like a little owl of the ruins.
7 I lie awake and I am
like a lone bird on a roof.
8 All the day my enemies reproach me;
those who mock me swear oaths against me.
9 Indeed, I eat ashes like bread
and mix my drink with tears[f]
10 because of your indignation and anger,
for you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a lengthened shadow,
and I wither like grass.
12 But you, O Yahweh, abide[g] forever,
and your remembrance[h] from generation to generation.[i]
13 You rise up and take pity on Zion,
because it is time to favor it,
for the appointed time has come.
14 Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
and show favor to its dust.
15 Then the nations will fear the name of Yahweh,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
16 For Yahweh will rebuild Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will turn his attention to the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be written for the next generation,
so that a people yet to be created may praise Yah,[j]
19 that he looked down from his holy height.
Yahweh looked from heaven over the earth
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner,
to liberate those destined to die,[k]
21 so that they[l] may make known in Zion the name of Yahweh,
and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when the peoples assemble,
together with[m] kingdoms, to serve Yahweh.
23 He has broken my strength along the way;
he has cut short my days.
24 I say, “My God, do not carry me off
from my life in the middle of my days.”
Your years continue throughout all generations.
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will endure.
And like a garment they will all wear out,
you will replace them like clothing, and they will be set aside.
27 But you are the same,
and your years do not end.
28 The children of your servants will continue,
and their descendants[n] will be established before you.
Footnotes
- Psalm 102:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
- Psalm 102:4 A rare homonym might yield “I am too wilted to eat”
- Psalm 102:5 Hebrew “bone”
- Psalm 102:5 Hebrew “flesh”
- Psalm 102:6 The identity of the birds in this verse is uncertain
- Psalm 102:9 Hebrew “weeping”
- Psalm 102:12 Or “sit enthroned”
- Psalm 102:12 Or “name”
- Psalm 102:12 Literally “to a generation and a generation”
- Psalm 102:18 A shortened form of “Yahweh”
- Psalm 102:20 Hebrew “the sons of death”
- Psalm 102:21 That is, the generation that reads what is written
- Psalm 102:22 Hebrew “and”
- Psalm 102:28 Literally “seed”
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