Psalms 73

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?

1A Psalm of Asaph. Only--good to Israel <FI>is<Fi> God, to the clean of heart. And I--as a little thing, My feet have been turned aside,

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

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.

2As nothing, have my steps slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful,

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

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

3The peace of the wicked I see, That there are no bands at their death,

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

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

4And their might <FI>is<Fi> firm.

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

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

5In the misery of mortals they are not, And with common men they are not plagued.

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

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

6Therefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress.

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

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

7Their eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;

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

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

8They do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, From on high they speak.

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

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

9They have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth.

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

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

10Therefore do His people return hither, And waters of fulness are wrung out to them.

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

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

11And they have said, `How hath God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?'

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

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

12Lo, these <FI>are<Fi> the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength.

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

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

13Only--a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash in innocency my hands,

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

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

14And I am plagued all the day, And my reproof <FI>is<Fi> every morning.

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

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

15If I have said, `I recount thus,' Lo, a generation of Thy sons I have deceived.

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

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

16And I think to know this, Perverseness it <FI>is<Fi> in mine eyes,

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

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

17Till I come in to the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter end.

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

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

18Only, in slippery places Thou dost set them, Thou hast caused them to fall to desolations.

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

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

19How have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended--consumed from terrors.

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

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

20As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.

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

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

21For my heart doth show itself violent, And my reins prick themselves,

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

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

22And I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee.

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

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

23And I <FI>am<Fi> continually with Thee, Thou hast laid hold on my right hand.

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

24(not in this translation)

24With Thy counsel Thou dost lead me, And after honour dost receive me.

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

25(not in this translation)

25Whom have I in the heavens? And with Thee none I have desired in earth.

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

26(not in this translation)

26Consumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion <FI>is<Fi> God to the age.

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

27(not in this translation)

27For, lo, those far from Thee do perish, Thou hast cut off every one, Who is going a whoring from Thee.

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

28(not in this translation)

28And I--nearness of God to me <FI>is<Fi> good, I have placed in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, To recount all Thy works!

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.