Psalms 101
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 cleaved 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 for ever,
and thy memorial to generation and generation.
14 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy
upon Sion: 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 Sion,
aOr, then shall be.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 Sion, 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
bHeb. 1. 11,13.
through all generations. 26 In the
cGr. plural.beginning thou, O Lord, didst lay the foundation of the earth; and the
heavens are the works of thine 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
dOr, be directed aright.prosper for ever.