Psalm 73:1–28

¹Truly God is good to ^cIsrael,

to those who are ^dpure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

my steps had nearly slipped.

^3eFor I was ^fenvious of the arrogant

when I saw the ^gprosperity of the wicked.

⁴For they have no pangs until death;

their bodies are fat and sleek.

⁵They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not ^hstricken like the rest of mankind.

⁶Therefore pride is ⁱtheir necklace;

violence covers them as ^ja garment.

⁷Their ^keyes swell out through fatness;

their hearts overflow with follies.

⁸They scoff and ^lspeak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.

⁹They set their mouths against the heavens,

and their tongue struts through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore his people turn back to them,

and find ^mno fault in them.¹

¹¹And they say, ⁿ“How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

¹²Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they ^oincrease in riches.

¹³All in vain have I ^pkept my heart clean

and ^qwashed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴For all the day long I have been ^hstricken

and ^rrebuked ^severy morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have betrayed ^tthe generation of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me ^ua wearisome task,

¹⁷until I went into ^vthe sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their ^wend.

¹⁸Truly you set them in ^xslippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.

¹⁹How they are destroyed ^yin a moment,

swept away utterly by ^zterrors!

²⁰Like ^aa dream when one awakes,

O Lord, when ^byou rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

²¹When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

²²I was ^cbrutish and ignorant;

I was like ^da beast toward you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

you ^ehold my right hand.

²⁴You ^fguide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will ^greceive me to glory.

^25hWhom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

²⁶ⁱMy flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is ^jthe strength² of my heart and my ^kportion ^lforever.

²⁷For behold, those who are ^mfar from you shall perish;

you put an end to everyone who is ⁿunfaithful to you.

²⁸But for me it is good to ^obe near God;

I have made the Lord God my ^prefuge,

that I may ^qtell of all your works.