Psalms 73
1 A Psalm of Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to those who are upright in heart.
A PSALM OF ASAPH. Surely God [is] good to Israel, to the clean of heart. And I—as a little thing, My feet have been turned aside,
2 But my feet were nearly moved; my steps had nearly slipped.
As nothing, my steps have slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful,
3 For I was zealous over the iniquitous, seeing the peacefulness of sinners.
I see the peace of the wicked, That there are no bands at their death,
4 For they have no respect for their death, nor do they have support in their wounds.
And their might [is] firm.
5 They are not with the hardships of men, nor will they be scourged with men.
They are not in the misery of mortals, And they are not plagued with common men.
6 Therefore, arrogance has held on to them. They have been covered with their iniquity and impiety.
Therefore pride has encircled them, Violence covers them as a dress.
7 Their iniquity has proceeded, as if from fat. They have parted from the affection of the heart.
Their eye has come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;
8 They have thought and spoken wickedness. They have spoken iniquity in high places.
They do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, They speak from on high.
9 They have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has traversed the earth.
They have set their mouth in the heavens, And their tongue walks in the earth.
10 Therefore, my people will be converted here, and fullness of days will be found in them.
Therefore His people return here, And waters of fullness are wrung out to them.
11 And they said, “How would God know?” and, “Isn’t there knowledge in high places?”
And they have said, “How has God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are sinners, and, abounding in this age, they have obtained riches.
Behold, these [are] the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength.
13 And I said: So then, it is without purpose that I have justified my heart and washed my hands among the innocent.
Only—a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash my hands in innocence,
14 And I have been scourged all day long, and I have received my chastisement in the mornings.
And I am plagued all the day, And my reproof—every morning.
15 If I were to say that I would explain this: Behold, I would condemn this nation of your sons.
If I have said, “I recount thus,” Behold, I have deceived a generation of Your sons.
16 I considered, so that I might know this. It is a hardship before me,
And I think to know this, It [is] perverseness in my eyes,
17 until I may enter into the Sanctuary of God, and understand it to its last part.
Until I come into the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter 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 You set them in slippery places, You have caused them to fall to desolations.
19 How have they been brought to desolation? They have suddenly failed. They have perished because of their iniquity.
How they have become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended—consumed from 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 from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, You despise their image.
21 For my heart has been inflamed, and my temperament has been changed.
For my heart shows itself violent, And my reins prick themselves,
22 And so, I have been reduced to nothing, and I did not know it.
And I am brutish, and do not know. I have been a beast with You.
23 I have become like a beast of burden to you, and I am always with you.
And I [am] continually with You, You have laid hold on 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.
You lead me with Your counsel, And after, receive me [to] glory.
25 For what is there for me in heaven? And what do I wish for on earth before you?
Whom do I have in the heavens? And none have I desired in earth [besides] You.
26 My body has failed, and my heart: O God of my heart, and God my portion, into eternity.
My flesh and my heart have been consumed, God [is] the rock of my heart and my portion for all time.
27 For behold, those who put themselves far from you will perish. You have perished all those who fornicate away from you.
For behold, those far from You perish, You have cut off everyone, Who is going whoring from You.
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.
And [the] nearness of God to me [is] good, I have placed my refuge in Lord YHWH, To recount all Your works!
