Psalms 73

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,

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

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

2But as for me, my feet had almost gone from under me; I was near to slipping;

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.

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

3Because of my envy of the men of pride, when I saw the well-being of the wrongdoers.

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

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

4For they have no pain; their bodies are fat and strong.

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

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

5They are not in trouble as others are; they have no part in the unhappy fate of men.

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

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

6For this reason pride is round them like a chain; they are clothed with violent behaviour as with a robe.

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

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

7Their eyes are bursting with fat; they have more than their heart's desire.

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

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

8Their thoughts are deep with evil designs; their talk from their seats of power is of cruel acts.

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

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

9Their mouth goes up to heaven; their tongues go walking through the earth.

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

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

10For this reason they are full of bread; and water is ever flowing for them.

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

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

11And they say, How will the Lord see this? 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?

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

12Truly, such are the sinners; they do well at all times, and their wealth is increased.

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

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

13As for me, I have made my heart clean to no purpose, washing my hands in righteousness;

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

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

14For I have been troubled all the day; every morning have I undergone punishment.

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

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

15If I would make clear what it is like, I would say, You are false to the generation of your children.

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

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

16When my thoughts were turned to see the reason of this, it was a weariness in my eyes;

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

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

17Till I went into God's holy place, and saw the end of the evil-doers.

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

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

18You put their feet where there was danger of slipping, so that they go down into destruction.

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

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

19How suddenly are they wasted! fears are the cause of their destruction.

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

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

20As a dream when one is awake, they are ended; they are like an image gone out of mind when sleep is over.

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

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

21My heart was made bitter, and I was pained by the bite of grief:

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

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

22As for me, I was foolish, and without knowledge; I was like a beast before you.

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

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

23But still I am ever with you; you have taken me by my right hand.

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

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

24Your wisdom will be my guide, and later you will put me in a place of honour.

24(not in this translation)

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

25Whom have I in heaven but you? and having you I have no desire for anything on earth.

25(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.

26My flesh and my heart are wasting away: but God is the Rock of my heart and my eternal heritage.

26(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.

27For those who are far away from you will come to destruction: you will put an end to all those who have not kept faith with you.

27(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!

28But it is good for me to come near to God: I have put my faith in the Lord God, so that I may make clear all his works.

28(not in this translation)