Psalm 73 - American Standard Version 2015

¹ {\b A Psalm of Asaph.}\par\par\tab Surely God is good to Israel,\par\tab {\i Even} to such as are pure in heart.

² But as for me, my feet were almost gone;\par\tab My steps had well nigh slipped.

³ For I was envious at the arrogant,\par\tab When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴ For there are no pangs in their death;\par\tab But their strength is firm.

⁵ They are not in trouble as {\i other} men;\par\tab Neither are they plagued like {\i other} men.

⁶ Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;\par\tab Violence covereth them as a garment.

⁷ Their eyes stand out with fatness:\par\tab They have more than heart could wish.

⁸ They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:\par\tab They speak loftily.

⁹ They have set their mouth in the heavens,\par\tab And their tongue walketh through the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore his people return hither:\par\tab And waters of a full {\i cup} are drained by them.

¹¹ And they say, How doth God know?\par\tab And is there knowledge in the Most High?

¹² Behold, these are the wicked;\par\tab And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.

¹³ Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,\par\tab And washed my hands in innocency;

¹⁴ For all the day long have I been plagued,\par\tab And chastened every morning.

¹⁵ If I had said, I will speak thus;\par\tab Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.

¹⁶ When I thought how I might know this,\par\tab It was too painful for me;

¹⁷ Until I went into the sanctuary of God,\par\tab And considered their latter end.

¹⁸ Surely thou settest them in slippery places:\par\tab Thou castest them down to destruction.

¹⁹ How are they become a desolation in a moment!\par\tab They are utterly consumed with terrors.

²⁰ As a dream when one awaketh,\par\tab So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.

²¹ For my soul was grieved,\par\tab And I was pricked in my heart:

²² So brutish was I, and ignorant;\par\tab I was {\i as} a beast before thee.

²³ Nevertheless I am continually with thee:\par\tab Thou hast holden my right hand.

²⁴ Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,\par\tab And afterward receive me to glory.

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven {\i but thee}?\par\tab And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.

²⁶ My flesh and my heart faileth;\par\tab {\i But} God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

²⁷ For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:\par\tab Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, {\i departing} from thee.

²⁸ But it is good for me to draw near unto God:\par\tab I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge,\par\tab That I may tell of all thy works.\par