Psalms 73
1 A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.
But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped.
3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners.
4 They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed.
For there is no regard to their death, nor is there strength in their stripes.
5 They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.
They are not in the labour of men: neither shall they be scourged like other men.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them.
Therefore pride hath held them fast: they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness.
7 From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
Their iniquity hath come forth, as it were from fatness: they have passed into the affection of the heart.
8 They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
They have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken iniquity on high.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth.
They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue hath passed through the earth.
10 So their people return to this place and drink up waters in abundance.
Therefore will my people return here and full days shall be found in them.
11 The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”
And they said: How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?
12 Behold, these are the wicked— always carefree as they increase their wealth.
Behold these are sinners; and yet abounding in the world they have obtained riches.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.
And I said: Then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent.
14 For I am afflicted all day long and punished every morning.
And I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement hath been in the mornings.
15 If I had said, “I will speak this way,” then I would have betrayed Your children.
If I said: I will speak thus; behold I should condemn the generation of thy children.
16 When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight
I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my sight:
17 until I entered God’s sanctuary; then I discerned their end.
Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends.
18 Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
But indeed for deceits thou hast put it to them: when they were lifted up thou hast cast them down.
19 How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
How are they brought to desolation? they have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.
20 Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.
As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing.
21 When my heart was grieved and I was pierced within,
For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins have been changed:
22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.
And I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.
23 Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand.
I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with thee.
24 You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.
Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by thy will thou hast conducted me, and with thy glory thou hast received me.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You.
For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.
27 Those far from You will surely perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
For behold they that go far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that are disloyal to thee.
28 But as for me, it is good to draw near to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may proclaim all Your works.
But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: That I may declare all thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
