102:1   (A prayer for someone who hurts and needs to ask the LORD for help.) I pray to you, LORD! Please listen.

102:2   Don't hide from me in my time of trouble. Pay attention to my prayer and quickly give an answer.

102:3   My days disappear like smoke, and my bones are burning as though in a furnace.

102:4   I am wasting away like grass, and my appetite is gone.

102:5   My groaning never stops, and my bones can be seen through my skin.

102:6   I am like a lonely owl in the desert

102:7   or a restless sparrow alone on a roof.

102:8   My enemies insult me all day, and they use my name for a curse word.

102:9   Instead of food, I have ashes to eat and tears to drink,

102:10   because you are furious and have thrown me aside.

102:11   My life fades like a shadow at the end of day and withers like grass.

102:12   Our LORD, you are King forever and will always be famous.

102:13   You will show pity to Zion because the time has come.

102:14   We, your servants, love each stone in the city, and we are sad to see them lying in the dirt.

102:15   Our LORD, the nations will honor you, and all kings on earth will praise your glory.

102:16   You will rebuild the city of Zion. Your glory will be seen,

102:17   and the prayers of the homeless will be answered.

102:18   Future generations must also praise the LORD, so write this for them:

102:19   "From his holy temple, the LORD looked down at the earth.

102:20   He listened to the groans of prisoners, and he rescued everyone who was doomed to die."

102:21   All Jerusalem should praise you, our LORD,

102:22   when people from every nation meet to worship you.

102:23   I should still be strong, but you, LORD, have made an old person of me.

102:24   You will live forever! Years mean nothing to you. Don't cut my life in half!

102:25   In the beginning, LORD, you laid the earth's foundation and created the heavens.

102:26   They will all disappear and wear out like clothes. You change them, as you would a coat, but you last forever.

102:27   You are always the same. Years cannot change you.

102:28   Every generation of those who serve you will live in your presence.