Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are of a pure heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped; For I was envious at the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs in their death, and their body is well nourished; They have not the hardships of mankind, neither are they plagued like other men: Therefore pride encompasseth them as a neck-chain, violence covereth them as a garment; Their eyes stand out from fatness, they exceed the imaginations of their heart: They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, they speak loftily: They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people turn hither, and waters in fulness are wrung out to them. And they say, How can •God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked, and they prosper in the world: they heap up riches. Truly have I purified my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency: For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

¹⁵If I said, I will speak thus, behold, I should be faithless to the generation of thy children. ¹⁶When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes; ¹⁷Until I went into the sanctuaries of •God; then understood I their end. ¹⁸Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou castest them down in ruins. ¹⁹How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors. ²⁰As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image.

²¹When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins, ²²Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was as a beast with thee. ²³Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand; ²⁴Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me. ²⁵Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee. ²⁶My flesh and my heart faileth: God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever. ²⁷For behold, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou destroyest every one that goeth a whoring from thee. ²⁸But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, that I may declare all thy works.

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