Psalms 73

Book III

The end of the wicked contrasted with that of the righteous.

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹Surely God is good to Israel, [Even] to such as are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet were almost gone; My steps had well nigh slipped.

³For I was envious at the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For there are no pangs in their death; But their strength is firm.

⁵They are not in trouble as [other] men; Neither are they plagued like [other] men.

⁶Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; Violence covereth them as a garment.

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

⁸They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression: They speak loftily.

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

¹⁰Therefore his people return hither: And waters of a full [cup] are drained by them.

¹¹And they say, How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?

¹²Behold, these are the wicked; And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.

¹³Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency;

¹⁴For all the day long have I been plagued, And chastened every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, I will speak thus; Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.

¹⁶When I thought how I might know this, It was too painful for me;

¹⁷Until I went into the sanctuary of God, And considered their latter end.

¹⁸Surely thou settest them in slippery places: Thou castest them down to destruction.

¹⁹How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.

²⁰As a dream when one awaketh, So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.

²¹For my soul was grieved, And I was pricked in my heart:

²²So brutish was I, and ignorant; I was [as] a beast before thee.

²³Nevertheless I am continually with thee: Thou hast holden my right hand.

²⁴Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven [but thee]? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.

²⁶My flesh and my heart faileth; [But] God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

²⁷For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, [departing] from thee.

²⁸But it is good for me to draw near unto God: I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge, That I may tell of all thy works.

Psalms 73 (ASV)

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Psalms

Chapter 73

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