Psalms 73

Psalms 73:1  
Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

Psalms 73:2  
But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped.

Psalms 73:3  
For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Psalms 73:4  
For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.

Psalms 73:5  
They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.

Psalms 73:6  
Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.

Psalms 73:7  
Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.

Psalms 73:8  
They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.

Psalms 73:9  
They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.

Psalms 73:10  
Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.

Psalms 73:11  
They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

Psalms 73:12  
Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.

Psalms 73:13  
Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,

Psalms 73:14  
For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.

Psalms 73:15  
If I had said, “I will speak thus”, behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

Psalms 73:16  
When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me—

Psalms 73:17  
until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.

Psalms 73:18  
Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.

Psalms 73:19  
How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.

Psalms 73:20  
As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.

Psalms 73:21  
For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart.

Psalms 73:22  
I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.

Psalms 73:23  
Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.

Psalms 73:24  
You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Psalms 73:25  
Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.

Psalms 73:26  
My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalms 73:27  
For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.

Psalms 73:28  
But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.


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