Psalms 73
1 A psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose minds are pure.
A Psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to the upright in heart!
2 But I was stumbling, my feet were starting to slide,
But my feet were almost overthrown; my goings very nearly slipped.
3 because I was jealous of self-important people—I saw how well the wicked were doing.
For I was jealous of the transgressors, beholding the tranquillity of sinners.
4 They don't ever seem to get sick; they are strong and healthy.
For there is no sign of reluctance in their death: and [they have] firmness under their affliction.
5 They don't have problems like other people; they don't get hit by disasters like everybody else.
They are not in the troubles of [other] men; and they shall not be scourged with [other] men.
6 They wear their pride like a necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
Therefore pride has possessed them; they have clothed themselves with their injustice and ungodliness.
7 Their eyes bulge out because they're so fat; their minds are full of selfish vanity.
Their injustice shall go forth as out of fatness: they have fulfilled their intention.
8 They mock people, and speak maliciously; they arrogantly threaten cruelty.
They have taken counsel and spoken in wickedness: they have uttered unrighteousness loftily.
9 They talk irreverently against heaven above, and defame people here on earth.
They have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has gone through upon the earth.
10 As a result people turn to them and drink in everything they say.
Therefore shall my people return hither: and full days shall be found with them.
11 “God won't find out,” they say. “The Most High doesn't even know what's going on!”
And they said, How does God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?
12 Look at these wicked people! They don't have a care in the world, and they're always making money!
Behold, these [are] the sinners, and they that prosper always: they have possessed wealth.
13 It's been pointless to keep my mind pure and my hands clean.
And I said, Verily in vain have I justified my heart, and washed my hands in innocency.
14 I'm cursed with suffering all day long; every morning I'm punished.
For I was plagued all the day, and my reproof [was] every morning.
15 If I'd talked like this to others, I would have betrayed your people.
If I said, I will speak thus; behold, I [should] have broken covenant with the generation of your children.
16 So I thought about it and tried to understand, but it looked like a lot of hard work to me—
And I undertook to understand this, [but] it is too hard for me,
17 until I went into God's Temple. Then I understood what happens to the wicked in the end.
until I go into the sanctuary of God; [and so] understand the latter end.
18 For you send them on a slippery path; you throw them down to destruction.
Surely you have appointed [judgements] to them because of their crafty dealings: you have cast them down when they were lifted up.
19 How quickly they're destroyed! They come to a terrifying end.
How have they become desolate! suddenly they have failed: they have perished because of their iniquity.
20 Like waking up from a dream, Lord—when you get up you will forget all about them!
As the dream of one awakening, O Lord, in your city you will despise their image.
21 At that time my thoughts were bitter. I felt like I had been stabbed.
For my heart has rejoiced, and my reins have been gladdened.
22 I was stupid and ignorant. I was like a brute beast to you.
But I [was] vile and knew not: I became brutish before you.
23 Yet I'm always with you; you hold me by the hand.
Yet I am continually with you: you have holden my right hand.
24 You tell me what to do; and ultimately you will welcome me in glory.
You have guided me by your counsel, and you have taken me to yourself with glory.
25 Who is there in heaven for me except you? And I want nothing on earth except you.
For what have I in heaven [but you]? and what have I desired upon the earth beside you?
26 My body and my mind may fail, but God is the foundation of my life. He is mine forever!
My heart and my flesh have failed: [but] God [is the strength] of my heart, and God is my portion for ever.
27 Those people who are far from God will die. You destroy all those unfaithful to you.
For, behold, they that remove themselves far from you shall perish: you have destroyed every one that goes a whoring from you.
28 But I love to stay close to God! I have chosen the Lord God to protect me. I will share all that you have done.
But it is good for me to cleave close to God, to put my trust in the Lord; that I may proclaim all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
