Psalm 102

[1]   Hear my prayer, O LORD;  

          let my cry come to you.  

[2]   Do not hide your face from me  

          in the day of my distress.  

     Incline your ear to me;  

          answer me speedily in the day when I call.

[3]   For my days pass away like smoke,  

          and my bones burn like a furnace.  

[4]   My heart is stricken and withered like grass;  

          I am too wasted to eat my bread.  

[5]   Because of my loud groaning  

          my bones cling to my skin.  

[6]   I am like an owl of the wilderness,  

          like a little owl of the waste places.  

[7]   I lie awake;  

          I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.  

[8]   All day long my enemies taunt me;  

          those who deride me use my name for a curse.  

[9]   For I eat ashes like bread,  

          and mingle tears with my drink,  

[10]  because of your indignation and anger;  

          for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.  

[11]  My days are like an evening shadow;  

          I wither away like grass.

[12]  But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;  

          your name endures to all generations.  

[13]  You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,  

          for it is time to favor it;  

          the appointed time has come.  

[14]  For your servants hold its stones dear,  

          and have pity on its dust.  

[15]  The nations will fear the name of the LORD,  

          and all the kings of the earth your glory.  

[16]  For the LORD will build up Zion;  

          he will appear in his glory.  

[17]  He will regard the prayer of the destitute,  

          and will not despise their prayer.  

[18]  Let this be recorded for a generation to come,  

          so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:  

[19]  that he looked down from his holy height,  

          from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,  

[20]  to hear the groans of the prisoners,  

          to set free those who were doomed to die;  

[21]  so that the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,  

          and his praise in Jerusalem,  

[22]  when peoples gather together,  

          and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

[23]  He has broken my strength in midcourse;  

          he has shortened my days.  

[24]  "O my God," I say, "do not take me away  

          at the mid-point of my life,  

     you whose years endure  

          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 endure;  

          they will all wear out like a garment.  

     You change them like clothing, and they pass away;  

[27]       but you are the same, and your years have no end.  

[28]  The children of your servants shall live secure;  

          their offspring shall be established in your presence.