Psalm 102 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

Psa 102:1A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to you!

Psa 102:2

Psa 102:2Do 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!

Psa 102:3

Psa 102:3For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.

Psa 102:4

Psa 102:4My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.

Psa 102:5

Psa 102:5Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.

Psa 102:6

Psa 102:6I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl[fn] of the waste places;

Psa 102:7

Psa 102:7I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.

Psa 102:8

Psa 102:8All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.

Psa 102:9

Psa 102:9For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,

Psa 102:10

Psa 102:10because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down.

Psa 102:11

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

Psa 102:12

Psa 102:12But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.

Psa 102:13

Psa 102:13You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.

Psa 102:14

Psa 102:14For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.

Psa 102:15

Psa 102:15Nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.

Psa 102:16

Psa 102:16For the LORD builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory;

Psa 102:17

Psa 102:17he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.

Psa 102:18

Psa 102:18Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:

Psa 102:19

Psa 102:19that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,

Psa 102:20

Psa 102:20to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,

Psa 102:21

Psa 102:21that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
and in Jerusalem his praise,

Psa 102:22

Psa 102:22when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

Psa 102:23

Psa 102:23He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.

Psa 102:24

Psa 102:24“O my God,” I say, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
you whose years endure
throughout all generations!”

Psa 102:25

Psa 102:25Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Psa 102:26

Psa 102:26They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

Psa 102:27

Psa 102:27but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Psa 102:28

Psa 102:28The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(102:6)

The precise identity of these birds is uncertain

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.