Psalms · Bible in Basic English
Psalm 102 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
1 A Prayer of the man who is in trouble, when he is overcome, and puts his grief before the Lord. Give ear to my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you.
1 A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before Yahweh. Hear my prayer, Yahweh! Let my cry come to you.
2 Let not your face be veiled from me in the day of my trouble; give ear to me, and let my cry be answered quickly.
2 Don’t hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Turn your ear to me. Answer me quickly in the day when I call.
3 My days are wasted like smoke, and my bones are burned up as in a fire.
3 For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch.
4 My heart is broken; it has become dry and dead like grass, so that I give no thought to food.
4 My heart is blighted like grass, and withered, for I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the voice of my sorrow, my flesh is wasted to the bone.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones stick to my skin.
6 I am like a bird living by itself in the waste places; like the night-bird in a waste of sand.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I have become as an owl of the waste places.
7 I keep watch like a bird by itself on the house-top.
7 I watch, and have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop.
8 My haters say evil of me all day; those who are violent against me make use of my name as a curse.
8 My enemies reproach me all day. Those who are mad at me use my name as a curse.
9 I have had dust for bread and my drink has been mixed with weeping:
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
10 Because of your passion and your wrath, for I have been lifted up and then made low by you.
10 because of your indignation and your wrath; for you have taken me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a shade which is stretched out; I am dry like the grass.
11 My days are like a long shadow. I have withered like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, are eternal; and your name will never come to an end.
12 But you, Yahweh, will remain forever; your renown endures to all generations.
13 You will again get up and have mercy on Zion: for the time has come for her to be comforted.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come.
14 For your servants take pleasure in her stones, looking with love on her dust.
14 For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity on her dust.
15 So the nations will give honour to the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will be in fear of his glory:
15 So the nations will fear Yahweh’s name, all the kings of the earth your glory.
16 When the Lord has put up the walls of Zion, and has been been in his glory;
16 For Yahweh has built up Zion. He has appeared in his glory.
17 When he has given ear to the prayer of the poor, and has not put his request on one side.
17 He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.
18 This will be put in writing for the coming generation, and the people of the future will give praise to the Lord.
18 This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah,
19 For from his holy place the Lord has seen, looking down on the earth from heaven;
19 for he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, Yahweh saw the earth,
20 Hearing the cry of the prisoner, making free those for whom death is ordered;
20 to hear the groans of the prisoner, to free those who are condemned to death,
21 So that they may give out the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
21 that men may declare Yahweh’s name in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 When the peoples are come together, and the kingdoms, to give worship to the Lord.
22 when the peoples are gathered together, the kingdoms, to serve Yahweh.
23 He has taken my strength from me in the way; he has made short my days.
23 He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days.
24 I will say, O my God, take me not away before my time; your years go on through all generations:
24 I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.
25 In the past you put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
25 Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will come to an end, but you will still go on; they all will become old like a coat, and like a robe they will be changed:
26 They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed.
27 But you are the unchanging One, and your years will have no end.
27 But you are the same. Your years will have no end.
28 The children of your servants will have a safe resting-place, and their seed will be ever before you.
28 The children of your servants will continue. Their offspring will be established before you.”
Cross references (28)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Psalm 18:6; Psalm 130:1–2; Exodus 2:23; Psalm 61:2; Psalm 142:2–3
- 2 Psalm 69:17; Psalm 27:9; Isaiah 8:17; Psalm 70:1; Psalm 88:2–18
- 3 James 4:14; Psalm 31:10; Lamentations 1:13; Job 30:30; Psalm 37:20
- 4 Isaiah 40:7; Psalm 37:2; Ezra 10:6; Acts 9:9; Matthew 26:37–38
- 5 Job 19:20; Proverbs 17:22; Lamentations 4:8; Psalm 32:3–4; Psalm 38:8–10
- 6 Zephaniah 2:14; Isaiah 38:14; Revelation 18:2; Isaiah 34:11–15; Job 30:29–30
- 7 Psalm 77:4; Lamentations 3:28–30; Mark 14:33–37; Psalm 130:6; Job 7:13–16
- 8 Acts 26:11; Romans 15:3; Psalm 69:9–10; Acts 23:12–35; Isaiah 65:15
- 9 Psalm 42:3; Job 3:24; Isaiah 44:20; Psalm 80:5; Lamentations 3:48–49
- 10 Psalm 38:3; 2 Corinthians 4:9; Lamentations 1:18; Psalm 90:7–9; Romans 3:19
- 11 Job 14:2; Psalm 109:23; Psalm 144:4; 1 Peter 1:24; James 4:14
- 12 Psalm 135:13; Lamentations 5:19; Exodus 3:15; Hebrews 13:8; Psalm 9:7
- 13 Galatians 4:4; Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 60:1; Psalm 44:26; Psalm 69:35–36
- 14 Nehemiah 4:2; Ezra 1:5; Nehemiah 2:17; Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 4:10
- 15 1 Kings 8:43; Psalm 138:4; Isaiah 60:3–22; Zechariah 8:20–23; Revelation 11:15
- 16 Isaiah 60:1–2; Jeremiah 33:7; Psalm 147:2; Isaiah 2:2–3; Jeremiah 31:4
- 17 Nehemiah 1:6; Psalm 22:24; Psalm 72:12; Psalm 9:18; Jeremiah 29:11–14
- 18 Romans 15:4; Psalm 22:30–31; Isaiah 43:21; Psalm 78:4–6; 1 Peter 2:9–10
- 19 Deuteronomy 26:15; Psalm 14:2; Hebrews 9:23–24; 1 Kings 8:43; 2 Chronicles 16:9
- 20 Psalm 79:11; Psalm 146:7; Isaiah 61:1–3; Exodus 3:7; Zechariah 9:9–12
- 21 Psalm 22:22; Isaiah 51:11; 1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 3:21; Psalm 79:13
- 22 Zechariah 8:20–23; Matthew 24:14; Isaiah 49:22–23; Isaiah 60:3–22; Psalm 22:27
- 23 Revelation 11:2–19; Psalm 89:38–47; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12; Job 21:21; 2 Timothy 3:1–17
- 24 Habakkuk 1:12; Psalm 39:13; Isaiah 38:10–22; Psalm 102:12; Revelation 1:8
- 25 Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11; Jeremiah 32:17; Hebrews 1:10–12; Hebrews 3:3–4
- 26 Isaiah 51:6; Matthew 24:35; Luke 21:33; Isaiah 34:4; Revelation 20:11
- 27 Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17; Malachi 3:6; Revelation 1:8; Psalm 90:4
- 28 Psalm 69:35–36; Psalm 45:16–17; Isaiah 66:22; Psalm 89:4; Psalm 90:16–17
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
In this Psalm, we ought to seek in the whole body of it what we find in the first verse: "Mercy and judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord" (ver. 1).
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established for ever;" pointing out plainly what things they are that pass away, and who it is that doth endure for ever--God, together with His servants.
So, then, by a humble piety we return to Thee; and thou purgest us from our evil customs, and art merciful unto the sins of those who confess unto Thee, and dost "hear the groaning of the prisoner," and dost loosen us from those fetters which we have forged for ourselves, if we lift not up against Thee the horns …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
On this account also one hath said, "My days have failed like smoke." He indeed was referring to their shortness of duration, and to their unsubstantial nature, but I would say that we should take what is said, not in this sense alone, but also as to their turbid character.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Hear David the Prophet saying, Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands; they shall perish, but Thou remainest.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)