Psalms 73
1 A Psalm of Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to those who are upright in heart.
BOOK III A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, even to such as are pure in heart.
2 But my feet were nearly moved; my steps had nearly slipped.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
3 For I was zealous over the iniquitous, seeing the peacefulness of sinners.
For I was envious at the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no respect for their death, nor do they have support in their wounds.
For there are no pangs at their death, and their body is sound.
5 They are not with the hardships of men, nor will they be scourged with men.
In the trouble of man they are not; neither are they plagued like men.
6 Therefore, arrogance has held on to them. They have been covered with their iniquity and impiety.
Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their iniquity has proceeded, as if from fat. They have parted from the affection of the heart.
Their eyes stand forth from fatness; they are gone beyond the imaginations of their heart.
8 They have thought and spoken wickedness. They have spoken iniquity in high places.
They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression; they speak as if there were none on high.
9 They have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has traversed the earth.
They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
10 Therefore, my people will be converted here, and fullness of days will be found in them.
Therefore His people return hither; and waters of fullness are drained out by them.
11 And they said, “How would God know?” and, “Isn’t there knowledge in high places?”
And they say: 'How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?'
12 Behold, these are sinners, and, abounding in this age, they have obtained riches.
Behold, such are the wicked; and they that are always at ease increase riches.
13 And I said: So then, it is without purpose that I have justified my heart and washed my hands among the innocent.
Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, and washed my hands in innocency;
14 And I have been scourged all day long, and I have received my chastisement in the mornings.
For all the day have I been plagued, and my chastisement came every morning.
15 If I were to say that I would explain this: Behold, I would condemn this nation of your sons.
If I had said: 'I will speak thus', behold, I had been faithless to the generation of Thy children.
16 I considered, so that I might know this. It is a hardship before me,
And when I pondered how I might know this, it was wearisome in mine eyes;
17 until I may enter into the Sanctuary of God, and understand it to its last part.
Until I entered into the sanctuary of God, and considered their end.
18 So, because of deceitfulness, truly, you have placed it before them. While they were being lifted up, you were casting them down.
Surely Thou settest them in slippery places; Thou hurlest them down to utter ruin.
19 How have they been brought to desolation? They have suddenly failed. They have perished because of their iniquity.
How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are wholly consumed by terrors.
20 As a dream is to those who awaken, O Lord, so will you reduce their image to nothing in your city.
As a dream when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when Thou arousest Thyself, Thou wilt despise their semblance.
21 For my heart has been inflamed, and my temperament has been changed.
For my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins.
22 And so, I have been reduced to nothing, and I did not know it.
But I was brutish, and ignorant; I was as a beast before Thee.
23 I have become like a beast of burden to you, and I am always with you.
Nevertheless I am continually with Thee; Thou holdest my right hand.
24 You have held my right hand. And in your will, you have conducted me, and with your glory, you have taken me up.
Thou wilt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me with glory.
25 For what is there for me in heaven? And what do I wish for on earth before you?
Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And beside Thee I desire none upon earth.
26 My body has failed, and my heart: O God of my heart, and God my portion, into eternity.
My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever.
27 For behold, those who put themselves far from you will perish. You have perished all those who fornicate away from you.
For, lo, they that go far from Thee shall perish; Thou dost destroy all them that go astray from Thee.
28 But it is good for me to adhere to God, to put my hope in the Lord God, so that I may announce all your prophecies, at the gates of the daughter of Zion.
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all Thy works.
