102:1  Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry for help come to you.

102:2  Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.

102:3  For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.

102:4  My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.

102:5  Because of my loud groaning
I am reduced to skin and bones.

102:6  I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.

102:7  I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.

102:8  All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.

102:9  For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears

102:10  because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.

102:11  My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

102:12  But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.

102:13  You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come.

102:14  For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.

102:15  The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

102:16  For the LORD will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.

102:17  He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.

102:18  Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the LORD :

102:19  "The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,

102:20  to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death."

102:21  So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem

102:22  when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the LORD.

102:23  In the course of my life he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.

102:24  So I said:
"Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.

102:25  In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.

102:26  They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.

102:27  But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.

102:28  The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you."