Psalms 73
1 A Psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to the 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 almost overthrown; my goings very nearly slipped.
As nothing, my steps have slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful,
3 For I was jealous of the transgressors, beholding the tranquility of sinners.
I see the peace of the wicked, That there are no bands at their death,
4 For there is no sign of reluctance in their death: and [they have] firmness under their affliction.
And their might [is] firm.
5 They are not in the troubles of [other] men; and they shall not be scourged with [other] men.
They are not in the misery of mortals, And they are not plagued with common men.
6 Therefore pride has possessed them; they have clothed themselves with their injustice and ungodliness.
Therefore pride has encircled them, Violence covers them as a dress.
7 Their injustice shall go forth as out of fatness: they have fulfilled their intention.
Their eye has come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;
8 They have taken counsel and spoken in wickedness: they have uttered unrighteousness loftily.
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 gone through upon the earth.
They have set their mouth in the heavens, And their tongue walks in the earth.
10 Therefore shall my people return hither: and full days shall be found with them.
Therefore His people return here, And waters of fullness are wrung out to them.
11 And they said, How does God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?
And they have said, “How has God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these [are] the sinners, and they that prosper always: they have possessed wealth.
Behold, these [are] the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength.
13 And I said, Verily in vain have I justified my heart, and washed my hands in innocency.
Only—a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash my hands in innocence,
14 For I was plagued all the day, and my reproof [was] every morning.
And I am plagued all the day, And my reproof—every morning.
15 If I said, I will speak thus; behold, I [should] have broken covenant with the generation of your children.
If I have said, “I recount thus,” Behold, I have deceived a generation of Your sons.
16 And I undertook to understand this, [but] it is too hard for me,
And I think to know this, It [is] perverseness in my eyes,
17 until I go into the sanctuary of God; [and so] understand the latter end.
Until I come into the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter end.
18 Surely you have appointed [judgments] to them because of their crafty dealings: you have cast them down when they were lifted up.
Surely You set them in slippery places, You have caused them to fall to desolations.
19 How have they become desolate! suddenly they have 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 the dream of one awakening, O Lord, in your city you will despise their image.
As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, You despise their image.
21 For my heart has rejoiced, and my reins have been gladdened.
For my heart shows itself violent, And my reins prick themselves,
22 But I [was] vile and knew not: I became brutish before you.
And I am brutish, and do not know. I have been a beast with You.
23 Yet I am continually with you: you have holden my right hand.
And I [am] continually with You, You have laid hold on my right hand.
24 You have guided me by your counsel, and you have taken me to yourself with glory.
You lead me with Your counsel, And after, receive me [to] glory.
25 For what have I in heaven [but you]? and what have I desired upon the earth beside you?
Whom do I have in the heavens? And none have I desired in earth [besides] You.
26 My heart and my flesh have failed: [but] God [is the strength] of my heart, and God is my portion for ever.
My flesh and my heart have been consumed, God [is] the rock of my heart and my portion for all time.
27 For, behold, they that remove themselves far from you shall perish: you have destroyed every one that goes a whoring 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 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.
And [the] nearness of God to me [is] good, I have placed my refuge in Lord YHWH, To recount all Your works!
