Zabur 73

A Psalm by Asaph.

¹Surely God is good to Israel,

To those who are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet were almost gone.

My steps had nearly slipped.

³For I was envious of the arrogant,

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For there are no struggles in their death,

But their strength is firm.

⁵They are free from burdens of men,

Neither are they plagued like other men.

⁶Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck.

Violence covers them like a garment.

⁷Their eyes bulge with fat.

Their minds pass the limits of conceit.

⁸They scoff and speak with malice.

In arrogance, they threaten oppression.

⁹They have set their mouth in the heavens.

Their tongue walks through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore their people return to them,

And they drink up waters of abundance.

¹¹They say, "How does God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?"

¹²Behold, these are the wicked.

Being always at ease, they increase in riches.

¹³Surely in vain I have cleansed my heart,

And washed my hands in innocence,

¹⁴For all day long have I been plagued,

And punished every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, "I will speak thus;"

Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

¹⁶When I tried to understand this,

It was too painful for me;

¹⁷Until I entered God's sanctuary,

And considered their latter end.

¹⁸Surely you set them in slippery places.

You throw them down to destruction.

¹⁹How they are suddenly destroyed!

They are completely swept away with terrors.

²⁰As a dream when one wakes up,

So, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.

²¹For my soul was grieved.

I was embittered in my heart.

²²I was so senseless and ignorant.

I was a brute beast before you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you.

You have held my right hand.

²⁴You will guide me with your counsel,

And afterward receive me to glory.

²⁵Who do I have in heaven?

There is no one on earth who I desire besides you.

²⁶My flesh and my heart fails,

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

²⁷For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish.

You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.

²⁸But it is good for me to come close to God.

I have made the Lord Allah my refuge,

That I may tell of all your works.