Psalms 73

1 TrulyGod is good to Israel, to such as are of a pure heart.

1Understanding for Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?

2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped;

2Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning. The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast redeemed: mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt.

3 For I was envious at the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked.

3Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

4 For they have no pangs in their death, and their body is well nourished;

4And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs,

5 They have not the hardships of mankind, neither are they plagued like [other] men:

5And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees,

6 Therefore pride encompasseth them as a neck-chain, violence covereth them [as] a garment;

6They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down.

7 Their eyes stand out from fatness, they exceed the imaginations of their heart:

7They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth.

8 They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, they speak loftily:

8They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land.

9 They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

9Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more.

10 Therefore his people turn hither, and waters in fulness are wrung out to them.

10How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever?

11 And they say, How canGod know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?

11Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever?

12 Behold, these are the wicked, and they prosper in the world: they heap up riches.

12But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 Truly have I purified my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency:

13Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters.

14 For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

14Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians.

15 If I said, I will speak thus, behold, I should be faithless to the generation of thy children.

15Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers.

16 When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes;

16Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun.

17 Until I went into the sanctuaries ofGod; [then] understood I their end.

17Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee.

18 Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou castest them down in ruins.

18Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name.

19 How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors.

19Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.

20 As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image.

20Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.

21 When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins,

21Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name.

22 Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was [as] a beast with thee.

22Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand;

23Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually.

24 Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me.

24(not in this translation)

25 Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee.

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26 My flesh and my heart faileth:God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever.

26(not in this translation)

27 For behold, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou destroyest every one that goeth a whoring from thee.

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28 But as for me, it is good for me to draw near toGod: I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, that I may declare all thy works.

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