Psalms 102

1 A prayer of the afflicted, when he shall be in distresse, and pour forth his meditation before the Lord. O Lord, heare my prayer, and let my crye come vnto thee.

A Prayer of the man who is in trouble, when he is overcome, and puts his grief before the Lord. Give ear to my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you.

2 Hide not thy face from me in the time of my trouble: incline thine eares vnto me: when I call, make haste to heare me.

Let not your face be veiled from me in the day of my trouble; give ear to me, and let my cry be answered quickly.

3 For my dayes are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burnt like an herthe.

My days are wasted like smoke, and my bones are burned up as in a fire.

4 Mine heart is smitten and withereth like grasse, because I forgate to eate my bread.

My heart is broken; it has become dry and dead like grass, so that I give no thought to food.

5 For the voyce of my groning my bones doe cleaue to my skinne.

Because of the voice of my sorrow, my flesh is wasted to the bone.

6 I am like a pelicane of the wildernesse: I am like an owle of the deserts.

I am like a bird living by itself in the waste places; like the night-bird in a waste of sand.

7 I watch and am as a sparrowe alone vpon the house top.

I keep watch like a bird by itself on the house-top.

8 Mine enemies reuile me dayly, and they that rage against me, haue sworne against me.

My haters say evil of me all day; those who are violent against me make use of my name as a curse.

9 Surely I haue eaten asshes as bread, and mingled my drinke with weeping,

I have had dust for bread and my drink has been mixed with weeping:

10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast heaued me vp, and cast me downe.

Because of your passion and your wrath, for I have been lifted up and then made low by you.

11 My dayes are like a shadowe that fadeth, and I am withered like grasse.

My days are like a shade which is stretched out; I am dry like the grass.

12 But thou, O Lord, doest remaine for euer, and thy remembrance from generation to generation.

But you, O Lord, are eternal; and your name will never come to an end.

13 Thou wilt arise and haue mercy vpon Zion: for the time to haue mercie thereon, for the appointed time is come.

You will again get up and have mercy on Zion: for the time has come for her to be comforted.

14 For thy seruants delite in the stones thereof, and haue pitie on the dust thereof.

For your servants take pleasure in her stones, looking with love on her dust.

15 Then the heathen shall feare the Name of the Lord, and all the Kings of the earth thy glory,

So the nations will give honour to the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will be in fear of his glory:

16 When the Lord shall build vp Zion, and shall appeare in his glory,

When the Lord has put up the walls of Zion, and has been been in his glory;

17 And shall turne vnto the prayer of the desolate, and not despise their prayer.

When he has given ear to the prayer of the poor, and has not put his request on one side.

18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people, which shalbe created, shall prayse the Lord.

This will be put in writing for the coming generation, and the people of the future will give praise to the Lord.

19 For he hath looked downe from the height of his Sanctuarie: out of the heauen did the Lord beholde the earth,

For from his holy place the Lord has seen, looking down on the earth from heaven;

20 That he might heare the mourning of the prisoner, and deliuer the children of death:

Hearing the cry of the prisoner, making free those for whom death is ordered;

21 That they may declare the Name of the Lord in Zion, and his prayse in Ierusalem,

So that they may give out the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

22 When the people shalbe gathered together, and the kingdomes to serue the Lord.

When the peoples are come together, and the kingdoms, to give worship to the Lord.

23 He abated my strength in the way, and shortened my dayes.

He has taken my strength from me in the way; he has made short my days.

24 And I sayd, O my God, take me not away in the middes of my dayes: thy yeeres endure from generation to generation.

I will say, O my God, take me not away before my time; your years go on through all generations:

25 Thou hast aforetime layde the foundation of the earth, and the heauens are the worke of thine hands.

In the past you put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: euen they all shall waxe olde as doeth a garment: as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.

They will come to an end, but you will still go on; they all will become old like a coat, and like a robe they will be changed:

27 But thou art the same, and thy yeeres shall not fayle.

But you are the unchanging One, and your years will have no end.

28 The children of thy seruants shall continue, and their seede shall stand fast in thy sight.

The children of your servants will have a safe resting-place, and their seed will be ever before you.