RSV Psalms 73 Chapter
73:1
A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.
73:2
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped.
73:3
For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
73:4
For they have no pangs;their bodies are sound and sleek.
73:5
They are not in trouble as other men are;they are not stricken like other men.
73:6
Therefore pride is their necklace;violence covers them as a garment.
73:7
Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies.
73:8
They scoff and speak with malice;loftily they threaten oppression.
73:9
They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.
73:10
Therefore the people turn and praise them;and find no fault in them.
73:11
And they say, 'How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?'
73:12
Behold, these are the wicked;always at ease, they increase in riches.
73:13
All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
73:14
For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning.
73:15
If I had said, 'I will speak thus,' I would have been untrue to the generation of thy children.
73:16
But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
73:17
until I went into the sanctuary of God;then I perceived their end.
73:18
Truly thou dost set them in slippery places;thou dost make them fall to ruin.
73:19
How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
73:20
They are like a dream when one awakes, on awaking you despise their phantoms.
73:21
When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
73:22
I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee.
73:23
Nevertheless I am continually with thee;thou dost hold my right hand.
73:24
Thou dost guide me with thy counsel, and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory.
73:25
Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee.
73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
73:27
For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish;thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.
73:28
But for me it is good to be near God;I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works.