Tehillim Chapter 73

English translation (JPS 1917)

1. 1. A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, Even to such as are pure in heart.
2. 2. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; My steps had well nigh slipped.
3. 3. For I was envious at the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4. 4. For there are no pangs at their death, And their body is sound.
5. 5. In the trouble of man they are not; Neither are they plagued like men.
6. 6. Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; Violence covereth them as a garment.
7. 7. Their eyes stand forth from fatness; They are gone beyond the imaginations of their heart.
8. 8. They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression; They speak as if there were none on high.
9. 9. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue walketh through the earth.
10. 10. Therefore His people return hither; And waters of fullness are drained out by them.
11. 11. And they say: 'How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?'
12. 12. Behold, such are the wicked; And they that are always at ease increase riches.
13. 13. Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency;
14. 14. For all the day have I been plagued, And my chastisement came every morning.
15. 15. If I had said: 'I will speak thus', Behold, I had been faithless to the generation of Thy children.
16. 16. And when I pondered how I might know this, It was wearisome in mine eyes;
17. 17. Until I entered into the sanctuary of God, And considered their end.
18. 18. Surely Thou settest them in slippery places; Thou hurlest them down to utter ruin.
19. 19. How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are wholly consumed by terrors.
20. 20. As a dream when one awaketh, So, O Lord, when Thou arousest Thyself, Thou wilt despise their semblance.
21. 21. For my heart was in a ferment, And I was pricked in my reins. .
22. 22. But I was brutish, and ignorant; I was as a beast before Thee.
23. 23. Nevertheless I am continually with Thee; Thou holdest my right hand.
24. 24. Thou wilt guide me with Thy counsel, And afterward receive me with glory.
25. 25. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And beside Thee I desire none upon earth.
26. 26. My flesh and my heart faileth; But God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever.
27. 27. For, lo, they that go far from Thee shall perish; Thou dost destroy all them that go astray from Thee.
28. 28. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Thy works.