Mazmur 102:3-4

102:3 For my days go up in smoke, ¹ 

and my bones are charred like a fireplace. ² 

102:4 My heart is parched ³  and withered like grass,

for I am unable ⁴  to eat food. ⁵ 

[102:3]  ¹ tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”

[102:3]  ² tn The Hebrew noun מוֹ־קֵד (mo-qed, “fireplace”) occurs only here, in Isa 33:14 (where it refers to the fire itself), and perhaps in Lev 6:2.

[102:4]  ³ tn Heb “struck, attacked.”

[102:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “I forget.”

[102:4]  ⁵ sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.