Psalm 102

New King James Version

The Lord’s Eternal Love

A Prayer of the afflicted, ^(A)when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

102 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And let my cry come to You.
²^(B)Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.

³For my days ^[a]are ^(C)consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth.
⁴My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.
⁵Because of the sound of my groaning
My bones cling to my ^[b]skin.
⁶I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I am like an owl of the desert.
⁷I lie awake,
And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.

⁸My enemies reproach me all day long;
Those who deride me swear an oath against me.
⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mingled my drink with weeping,
¹⁰Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
¹¹My days are like a shadow that lengthens,
And I wither away like grass.

¹²But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
¹³You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
¹⁴For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.
¹⁵So the ^[c]nations shall ^(D)fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
¹⁶For the Lord shall build up Zion;
^(E)He shall appear in His glory.
¹⁷^(F)He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer.

¹⁸This will be ^(G)written for the generation to come,
That ^(H)a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
¹⁹For He ^(I)looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
²⁰^(J)To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
²¹To ^(K)declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
²²^(L)When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

²³He weakened my strength in the way;
He ^(M)shortened my days.
²⁴^(N)I said, “O my God,
Do not take me away in the midst of my days;
^(O)Your years are throughout all generations.
²⁵^(P)Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
²⁶^(Q)They will perish, but You will ^[d]endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
²⁷But ^(R)You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
²⁸^(S)The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”

Footnotes

Psalm 102:3 Lit. end in
Psalm 102:5 flesh
Psalm 102:15 Gentiles
Psalm 102:26 continue

James 2

New King James Version

Beware of Personal Favoritism

2 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Lord of glory, with ^(B)partiality. ²For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in ^[a]fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in ^[b]filthy clothes, ³and you ^[c]pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” ⁴have you not ^[d]shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my beloved brethren: ^(C)Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be ^(D)rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom ^(E)which He promised to those who love Him? ⁶But ^(F)you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you ^(G)and drag you into the courts? ⁷Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are ^(H)called?

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ^(I)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; ⁹but if you ^[e]show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as ^(J)transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet ^(K)stumble in one point, ^(L)he is guilty of all. ¹¹For He who said, ^(M)“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^(N)“Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹²So speak and so do as those who will be judged by ^(O)the law of liberty. ¹³For ^(P)judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown ^(Q)no ^(R)mercy. ^(S)Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead^(T)

¹⁴^(U)What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵^(V)If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶and ^(W)one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” ^(X)Show me your faith without ^[f]your works, ^(Y)and I will show you my faith by ^[g]my works. ¹⁹You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ²⁰But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is ^[h]dead? ²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works ^(Z)when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²Do you see ^(AA)that faith was working together with his works, and by ^(AB)works faith was made ^[i]perfect? ²³And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ^(AC)“Abraham believed God, and it was ^[j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called ^(AD)the friend of God. ²⁴You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.