The Book of Psalms
Psalm 73
[A Psalm of Asaph.] Truly God [is] good to Israel, to those who are of a pure heart.
And [as for] me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps nearly made to slip.
For I was jealous of the proud; I looked upon the peace of the wicked.
For [there are] no pangs to their death; but their body [is] fat.
They [are] not in the misery of mortal man; and with men they are not touched.
So pride enchains them; violence covers them [like] a robe.
Their eyes go out with fatness; they have passed the imaginations of the heart.
They scoff and speak in malice; from on high they speak cruelty.
They set their mouth in the heavens; and their tongues walk through the earth.
Because of this His people shall return here; and waters of a full [cup shall be] drained by them.
And they say, How does God know? And, Is there knowledge in the Most High?
Behold! These [are] the ungodly who are always at ease; they increase their riches.
Surely I have purified my heart [in] vain; and I have washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I was touched; and my chastening is at the mornings.
If I say, This is the way I will speak; behold, I would deceive a generation of Your sons.
And [although] I thought, [that I might] understand this, it [was] painful in my eyes,
until I went into the sanctuary of God; now I understood their end.
Surely, You will set their [feet] in slippery places; You will make them fall into ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away with terrors!
Like a dream [at the time] from dreaming, O Lord, in awaking You will despise their image.
For my heart was in a ferment, and I was pierced [in] my reins.
And I [was] brutish and did not know; I was [like] animals with You.
Yet I [was] continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.
You shall guide me by Your counsel; and afterward [You] will take me [to] glory.
Whom have I in Heaven? And I have no desire on earth besides You.
My flesh and my heart waste away; God [is] the rock of my heart and my portion forever.
For, lo, those who are far from You shall be lost; You have cut off all who go whoring away from You.
[As for] me, [it is] good for me to draw near to God; I have made my refuge in the Lord Jehovah, to declare all Your works.