^[a]73 Surely God is good to Israel,
Even to such as are pure in heart.
² But as for me, my feet were almost gone;
My steps had well nigh slipped.
³ For I was envious at the ^[b]arrogant,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
⁴ For there are no pangs in their death;
But their strength is firm.
⁵ They are not ^[c]in trouble as other men;
Neither are they plagued like other men.
⁶ Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;
Violence covereth them as a garment.
⁷ Their eyes stand out with fatness:
^[d]They have more than heart could wish.
⁸ They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:
They speak ^[e]loftily.
⁹ They have set their mouth ^[f]in the heavens,
And their tongue walketh through the earth.
¹⁰ Therefore ^[g]his people return hither:
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
¹¹ And they say, How doth God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?
¹² Behold, these are the wicked;
And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
¹³ Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,
And washed my hands in innocency;
¹⁴ For all the day long have I been plagued,
And ^[h]chastened every morning.
¹⁵ If I had said, I will speak thus;
Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.
¹⁶ When I thought how I might know this,
It was ^[i]too painful for me;
¹⁷ Until I went into the sanctuary of God,
And considered their latter end.
¹⁸ Surely thou settest them in slippery places:
Thou castest them down to ^[j]destruction.
¹⁹ How are they become a desolation in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
²⁰ As a dream when one awaketh,
So, O Lord, ^[k]when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
²¹ For my soul ^[l]was grieved,
And I was pricked in my ^[m]heart:
²² So brutish ^[n]was I, and ignorant;
I was as a beast ^[o]before thee.
²³ Nevertheless I am continually with thee:
Thou hast holden my right hand.
²⁴ Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,
And afterward receive me ^[p]to glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire ^[q]besides thee.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart faileth;
But God is the ^[r]strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
²⁷ For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:
Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, departing from thee.
²⁸ But it is good for me to draw near unto God:
I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge,
That I may tell of all thy works.