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