- A Psalm of Asaph.
- 1
- Surely God is good to Israel, [Even] to such as are pure in heart.
- 2
- But as for me, my feet were almost gone;
My steps had well nigh slipped.
- 3
- For I was envious at the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- 4
- For there are no pangs in their death;
But their strength is firm.
- 5
- They are not in trouble as [other] men;
Neither are they plagued like [other] men.
- 6
- Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;
Violence covereth them as a garment.
- 7
- Their eyes stand out with fatness: They have more than heart could wish.
- 8
- They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression: They speak loftily.
- 9
- They have set their mouth in the heavens, And their tongue walketh through the earth.
- 10
- Therefore his people return hither: And waters of a full [cup] are drained by them.
- 11
- And they say, How doth God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?
- 12
- Behold, these are the wicked;
And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
- 13
- Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency;
- 14
- For all the day long have I been plagued, And chastened every morning.
- 15
- If I had said, I will speak thus;
Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.
- 16
- When I thought how I might know this, It was too painful for me;
- 17
- Until I went into the sanctuary of God, And considered their latter end.
- 18
- Surely thou settest them in slippery places: Thou castest them down to destruction.
- 19
- How are they become a desolation in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
- 20
- As a dream when one awaketh, So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
- 21
- For my soul was grieved, And I was pricked in my heart:
- 22
- So brutish was I, and ignorant;
I was [as] a beast before thee.
- 23
- Nevertheless I am continually with thee: Thou hast holden my right hand.
- 24
- Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.
- 25
- Whom have I in heaven [but thee]?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.
- 26
- My flesh and my heart faileth;
[But] God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
- 27
- For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, [departing] from thee.
- 28
- But 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.
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