Psalms 73

1Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean 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?

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,

2But 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.

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

3For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw 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.

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

4For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

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.

5They are not in trouble as other men; 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,

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

6Therefore pride compasseth them about as a 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.

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

7Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

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;

8They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning 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.

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

9They set their mouth against 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.

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

10Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

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.

11And they say, How doth God 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?

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

12Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

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.

13Verily I have cleansed 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.

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

14For all the day long 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.

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

15If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

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.

16When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;

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,

17Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

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.

18Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

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.

19How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly 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.

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

20As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

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.

21Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.

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,

22So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

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.

23Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.

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.

24Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

24(not in this translation)

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

25Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

25(not in this translation)

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

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

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.

27For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.

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.

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

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!