Psalms 102

₁Listen to my prayer, O LORD,

and hear my cry for help!

₂When I am in trouble,

don't turn away from me!

Listen to me,

and answer me quickly when I call!

₃My life is disappearing like smoke;

my body is burning like fire.

₄I am beaten down like dry grass;

I have lost my desire for food.

₅I groan aloud;

I am nothing but skin and bones.

₆I am like a wild bird in the desert,

like an owl in abandoned ruins.

₇I lie awake;

I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.

₈All day long my enemies insult me;

those who mock me use my name in cursing.

_9-10Because of your anger and fury,

ashes are my food,

and my tears are mixed with my drink.

You picked me up and threw me away.

₁₁My life is like the evening shadows;

I am like dry grass.

₁₂But you, O LORD, are king for ever;

all generations will remember you.

₁₃You will rise and take pity on Zion;

the time has come to have mercy on her;

this is the right time.

₁₄Your servants love her,

even though she is destroyed;

they have pity on her,

even though she is in ruins.

₁₅The nations will fear the LORD;

all the kings of the earth will fear his power.

₁₆When the LORD rebuilds Zion,

he will reveal his greatness.

₁₇He will hear his forsaken people

and listen to their prayer.

₁₈Write down for the coming generation what the LORD has done,

so that people not yet born will praise him.

₁₉The LORD looked down from his holy place on high,

he looked down from heaven to earth.

₂₀He heard the groans of prisoners

and set free those who were condemned to die.

₂₁And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion,

and he will be praised in Jerusalem

₂₂when nations and kingdoms come together

and worship the LORD.

₂₃The LORD has made me weak while I am still young;

he has shortened my life.

₂₄O God, do not take me away now

before I grow old.

O LORD, you live for ever;

₂₅long ago you created the earth,

and with your own hands you made the heavens.

₂₆They will disappear, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like clothes.

You will discard them like clothes,

and they will vanish.

₂₇But you are always the same,

and your life never ends.

₂₈Our children will live in safety,

and under your protection

their descendants will be secure.