Psalms 102 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Yahweh, hear my prayer — let my cry reach you.

Don't hide your face from me when I'm falling apart. Lean in close — when I call out, answer me quickly.

My days dissolve like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.

My heart is withered like cut grass — I even forget to eat.

From the sound of my groaning, I'm nothing but skin and bones.

I'm like a desert owl, like a screech owl haunting the ruins.

I lie awake — like a lone bird on a rooftop.

All day my enemies taunt me. Those who mock me use my name as a curse.

I eat ashes like bread and mix my tears into everything I drink,

because of your fury and your rage — you picked me up and threw me aside.

My days stretch out like evening shadows, and I wither like grass.

But you, Yahweh — you sit enthroned forever. Your name endures through every generation.

You will rise up and show compassion to Zion — because the time has come, the appointed moment is here.

Your servants love her very stones; even her dust moves them to compassion.

Then the nations will stand in awe of Yahweh's name, and every king on earth will honor his glory,

when Yahweh rebuilds Zion and appears in his glory,

when he turns toward the prayer of the destitute and does not dismiss their plea.

Write this down for a future generation, so that a people not yet born will praise Yahweh:

Yahweh looked down from the heights of his sacred place, gazed from heaven to the earth,

to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those condemned to die —

so that Yahweh's name will be declared in Zion, his praise in Jerusalem,

when peoples gather together, when kingdoms assemble to serve Yahweh.

He broke my strength along the way; he cut my life short.

I said, "My God, don't take me in the middle of my life — you whose years span every generation."

Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like old clothes — you will swap them out like a garment, and they will be discarded.

But you are the same, and your years will never end.

The children of your servants will live secure, and their descendants will be established in your presence.