Psalm 73

Modern English Version

² But as for me, my feet almost stumbled;
    my steps had almost slipped.
³ For I was envious at the boastful;
    I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴ For there are no pains in their death;
    their bodies are fat.
⁵ They are not in trouble as other people;
    nor are they plagued like others.
⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace;
    violence covers them as a garment.
⁷ Their eyes bulge with fatness;
    they have more than a heart could wish.
⁸ They mock and speak with evil oppression;
    they speak loftily.
⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
¹⁰ Therefore people turn to them,
    and abundant waters are drunk by them.
¹¹ They say, “How does God know?
    And is there knowledge with the Most High?”

¹² Observe, these are the wicked, always at ease;
    they increase in riches.

¹³ Surely I have kept my heart pure for nothing,
    and washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴ For all the day long I am plagued,
    and chastened every morning.

¹⁵ If I said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
¹⁶ When I thought to understand this,
    it was troublesome in my eyes,
¹⁷ until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    then I understood their end.

¹⁸ Surely You have set them in slippery places;
    You have brought them down to ruin.
¹⁹ How they come to desolation, as in a moment!
    They have come to an end, utterly consumed with terrors.
²⁰ As a dream when one awakes,
    so, O Lord, when You awake,
    You will despise their form.

²¹ Thus my heart was embittered,
    and I was pierced in my feelings.
²² I was a brute and did not understand;
    I was as a beast before You.

²³ Nevertheless I am continually with You;
    You have held me by my right hand.
²⁴ You will guide me with Your counsel,
    and afterward receive me to glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but You?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart fails,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.

²⁷ For those who are far from You will perish;
    You destroy everyone who is unfaithful to You.
²⁸ But it is good for me to draw near to God;
    I have taken my refuge in the Lord God,
    that I may declare all Your works.