1 A Prayer for the Poor; when he is deeply afflicted, and pours out his supplication before the Lord. 2 Hear my prayer, O Lord, And let my cry come to thee. 3 Turn not away thy face from me: In the day [when] I am afflicted, incline thine ear to me: In the day [when] I shall call upon thee, speedily hear me. 4 For my days have vanished like smoke, And my bones have been parched like a stick. 5 I am blighted like grass, and my heart is dried up; For I have forgotten to eat my bread. 6 By reason of the voice of my groaning, My bone has cloven to my flesh. 7 I have become like a pelican of the wilderness; 8 I have become like an owl in a ruined house. I have watched, and am become As a sparrow dwelling alone on a roof. 9 All the day long mine enemies have reproached me; And they that praised me have sworn against me. 10 For I have eaten ashes as it were bread, And mingled my drink with weeping; 11 Because of thine anger and thy wrath: For thou hast lifted me up, and dashed me down. 12 My days have declined like a shadow; And I am withered like grass. 13 But thou, Lord, endurest forever, And thy memorial to generation and generation. 14 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: For [it is] time to have mercy upon her, for the set time is come. 15 For thy servants have taken pleasure in her stones, And they shall pity her dust. 16 So the nations shall fear thy name, O Lord, And all kings thy glory. 17 For the Lord shall build up Zion, And shall appear in his glory. 18 He has had regard to the prayer of the lowly, And has not despised their petition. 19 Let this be written for another generation; And the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord. 20 For he has looked out from the height of his sanctuary; The Lord looked upon the earth from heaven; 21 To hear the groaning of the fettered ones, To loosen the sons of the slain; 22 To proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion, And his praise in Jerusalem; 23 When the people are gathered together, And the kings, to serve the Lord. 24 He answered him in the way of his strength: Tell me the fewness of my days. 25 Take me not away in the midst of my days: Thy years [are] through all generations. 26 In the beginning thou, O Lord, didst lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the works of thy hands. 27 They shall perish, but thou remainest: And [they all] shall wax old as a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them, and they shall be changed. 28 But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. 29 The children of thy servants shall dwell [securely], And their seed shall prosper forever.
Psalms · Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Psalm 101 (102) Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · Psalm 102 · About the recordings
Notes on this text (2)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
- Same Septuagint text as Brenton, with modernised spelling.
Cross references (29)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info. References use English (Hebrew-based) verse numbers; links open the passage in LXXUP.
- 1 Psalm 18:6; Psalm 130:1–2; Exodus 2:23; Psalm 61:2; Psalm 142:2–3
- 2 Psalm 18:6; Psalm 130:1–2; Exodus 2:23; Psalm 61:2; Psalm 142:2–3
- 3 Psalm 69:17; Psalm 27:9; Isaiah 8:17; Psalm 70:1; Psalm 88:2–18
- 4 James 4:14; Psalm 31:10; Lamentations 1:13; Job 30:30; Psalm 37:20
- 5 Isaiah 40:7; Psalm 37:2; Ezra 10:6; Acts 9:9; Matthew 26:37–38
- 6 Job 19:20; Proverbs 17:22; Lamentations 4:8; Psalm 32:3–4; Psalm 38:8–10
- 7 Zephaniah 2:14; Isaiah 38:14; Revelation 18:2; Isaiah 34:11–15; Job 30:29–30
- 8 Psalm 77:4; Lamentations 3:28–30; Mark 14:33–37; Psalm 130:6; Job 7:13–16
- 9 Acts 26:11; Romans 15:3; Psalm 69:9–10; Acts 23:12–35; Isaiah 65:15
- 10 Psalm 42:3; Job 3:24; Isaiah 44:20; Psalm 80:5; Lamentations 3:48–49
- 11 Psalm 38:3; 2 Corinthians 4:9; Lamentations 1:18; Psalm 90:7–9; Romans 3:19
- 12 Job 14:2; Psalm 109:23; Psalm 144:4; 1 Peter 1:24; James 4:14
- 13 Psalm 135:13; Lamentations 5:19; Exodus 3:15; Hebrews 13:8; Psalm 9:7
- 14 Galatians 4:4; Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 60:1; Psalm 44:26; Psalm 69:35–36
- 15 Nehemiah 4:2; Ezra 1:5; Nehemiah 2:17; Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 4:10
- 16 1 Kings 8:43; Psalm 138:4; Isaiah 60:3–22; Zechariah 8:20–23; Revelation 11:15
- 17 Isaiah 60:1–2; Jeremiah 33:7; Psalm 147:2; Isaiah 2:2–3; Jeremiah 31:4
- 18 Nehemiah 1:6; Psalm 22:24; Psalm 72:12; Psalm 9:18; Jeremiah 29:11–14
- 19 Romans 15:4; Psalm 22:30–31; Isaiah 43:21; Psalm 78:4–6; 1 Peter 2:9–10
- 20 Deuteronomy 26:15; Psalm 14:2; Hebrews 9:23–24; 1 Kings 8:43; 2 Chronicles 16:9
- 21 Psalm 79:11; Psalm 146:7; Isaiah 61:1–3; Exodus 3:7; Zechariah 9:9–12
- 22 Psalm 22:22; Isaiah 51:11; 1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 3:21; Psalm 79:13
- 23 Zechariah 8:20–23; Matthew 24:14; Isaiah 49:22–23; Isaiah 60:3–22; Psalm 22:27
- 24 Revelation 11:2–19; Psalm 89:38–47; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12; Job 21:21; 2 Timothy 3:1–17
- 25 Habakkuk 1:12; Psalm 39:13; Isaiah 38:10–22; Psalm 102:12; Revelation 1:8
- 26 Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11; Jeremiah 32:17; Hebrews 1:10–12; Hebrews 3:3–4
- 27 Isaiah 51:6; Matthew 24:35; Luke 21:33; Isaiah 34:4; Revelation 20:11
- 28 Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17; Malachi 3:6; Revelation 1:8; Psalm 90:4
- 29 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). Verse numbers below follow the Hebrew/English numbering: 102.
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)