73:0 A Psalm of Asaph.
73:1 Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.
73:2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped.
73:3 For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
73:4 For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek.
73:5 They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men.
73:6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.
73:7 Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies.
73:8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
73:9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.
73:10 Therefore the people turn and praise them; and find no fault in them.
73:11 And they say, "How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?"
73:12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.
73:13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
73:14 For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning.
73:15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have been untrue to the generation of thy children.
73:16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
73:17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.
73:18 Truly thou dost set them in slippery places; thou dost make them fall to ruin.
73:19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
73:20 They are like a dream when one awakes, on awaking you despise their phantoms.
73:21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
73:22 I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee.
73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou dost hold my right hand.
73:24 Thou dost guide me with thy counsel, and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory.
73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee.
73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
73:27 For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish; thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.
73:28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works.
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