73:1 [A Psalm of Asaph.]
God certainly is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!
73:2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps ①had almost slipped.
▷ ①Lit were caused to slip
73:3 For I was envious of the ①arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
▷ ①Or boasters
73:4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their belly is fat.
73:5 They are not ①in trouble like other people,
Nor are they tormented together with the rest of mankind.
▷ ①Lit in the trouble of people
73:6 Therefore arrogance is their necklace;
The garment of violence covers them.
73:7 Their eye ①bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart overflow.
▷ ①Lit goes forth
73:8 They mock and ①wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high.
▷ ①Or they speak in wickedness; From on high they speak of oppression
73:9 They have set their mouth ①against the heavens,
And their tongue ②parades through the earth.
▷ ①Or in ②Lit walks
73:10 Therefore ①his people return here,
And abundant waters are drunk by them.
▷ ①Or His
73:11 They say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge ①with the Most High?”
▷ ①Lit in
73:12 Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
73:13 Surely in vain I have ①kept my heart pure
And washed my hands in innocence;
▷ ①Or cleansed my heart
73:14 For I have been stricken all day long,
And ①punished every morning.
▷ ①Lit my punishment
73:15 If I had said, “I will speak this way,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
73:16 When I thought of understanding this,
It was ①troublesome in my sight
▷ ①Lit labor, trouble
73:17 Until I entered the ①sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
▷ ①Lit sanctuaries
73:18 You indeed put them on slippery ground;
You dropped them into ①ruin.
▷ ①Or deception
73:19 How they are ①destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
▷ ①Lit become a desolation
73:20 Like a dream when one awakes,
Lord, when stirred, You will despise their image.
73:21 When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced ①within,
▷ ①Lit in my kidneys
73:22 Then I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like an animal ①before You.
▷ ①Lit with You
73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
73:24 You will guide me with Your plan,
And afterward receive me ①to glory.
▷ ①Or with honor
73:25 Whom do I have in heaven but You?
And with You, I desire nothing on earth.
73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the ①strength of my heart and my portion forever.
▷ ①Lit rock
73:27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who ①are unfaithful to You.
▷ ①Lit go to a whoring from
73:28 But as for me, the nearness of God is good for me;
I have made the Lord ①GOD my refuge,
So that I may tell of all Your works.
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD