Chapter 102

  Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, And let my cry come unto thee.  

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  Hide not thy face from me in the day of my distress: Incline thine ear unto me; In the day when I call answer me speedily.  

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  For my days consume away like smoke, And my bones are burned as a firebrand.  

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  My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; For I forget to eat my bread.  

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  By reason of the voice of my groaning My bones cleave to my flesh.  

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  I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places.  

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  I watch, and am become like a sparrow That is alone upon the house-top.  

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  Mine enemies reproach me all the day; They that are mad against me do curse by me.  

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  For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping,  

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  Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: For thou hast taken me up, and cast me away.  

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  My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass.  

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  But thou, O Jehovah, wilt abide for ever; And thy memorial [name] unto all generations.  

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  Thou wilt arise, and have mercy upon Zion; For it is time to have pity upon her, Yea, the set time is come.  

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  For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, And have pity upon her dust.  

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  So the nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, And all the kings of the earth thy glory.  

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  For Jehovah hath built up Zion; He hath appeared in his glory.  

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  He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute, And hath not despised their prayer.  

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  This shall be written for the generation to come; And a people which shall be created shall praise Jehovah.  

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  For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; From heaven did Jehovah behold the earth;  

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  To hear the sighing of the prisoner; To loose those that are appointed to death;  

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  That men may declare the name of Jehovah in Zion, And his praise in Jerusalem;  

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  When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah.  

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  He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.  

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  I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: Thy years are throughout all generations.  

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  Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands.  

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  They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:  

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  But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end.  

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  The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee. Psalm 103 [A Psalm] of David.  

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