The Book of Psalms

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- Chapter 73 -

God is surely good to Israel

A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!

But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped.

Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners.

For there is no regard to their death, nor is there strength in their stripes.

They are not in the labour of men: neither shall they be scourged like other men.

Therefore pride hath held them fast: they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness.

Their iniquity hath come forth, as it were from fatness: they have passed into the affection of the heart.

They have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken iniquity on high.

They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue hath passed through the earth.

Therefore will my people return here and full days shall be found in them.

And they said: How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

Behold these are sinners; and yet abounding in the world they have obtained riches.

And I said: Then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent.

And I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement hath been in the mornings.

If I said: I will speak thus; behold I should condemn the generation of thy children.

I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my sight:

Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends.

But indeed for deceits thou hast put it to them: when they were lifted up thou hast cast them down.

How are they brought to desolation? they have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.

As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing.

For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins have been changed:

And I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.

I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with thee.

Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by thy will thou hast conducted me, and with thy glory thou hast received me.

For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?

For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.

For behold they that go far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that are disloyal to thee.

But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: That I may declare all thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion.

God is surely good to Israel

Surely God(a) is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

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

For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.

They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.

Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.

Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.

They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.

They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.

Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.

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

Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.

Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,

For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.

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

When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me—

until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.

Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.

How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.

As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord,(b) when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.

For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart.

I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.

You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

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

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

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

But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord the LORD

(c)

my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Footnotes

(a)73:1 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

(b)73:20 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”