Psalm 73 - Easy To Read Version

¹ God is truly good to Israel.\par God is good to people\par whose hearts are pure.\par

² I almost slipped and began to sin.\par

³ I saw that wicked people were successful\par I became jealous of those proud people.\par

⁴ Those people are healthy.\par They don’t have to struggle to survive. {\cf2\super [415]} \par

⁵ Those proud people don’t suffer like us.\par They don’t have troubles like other people.\par

⁶ So they are very proud and hateful people.\par This is as easy to see as the jewels\par and fancy clothes they wear.\par

⁷ If those people like something they see,\par they go and take it.\par They do whatever they want to do.\par

⁸ They say cruel, evil things\par about other people.\par They are proud and stubborn.\par And they are always planning ways\par to take advantage of other people.\par

⁹ Those proud people think they are gods!\par They think they are the rulers of earth.\par

¹⁰ So even God’s people turn to them\par and do the things they tell them. {\cf2\super [416]} \par

¹¹ Those evil people say,\par “God doesn’t know what we are doing!\par God Most-High does not know!”\par

¹² Those proud people are wicked,\par but they are rich and getting richer.\par

¹³ So why should I make my heart pure?\par Why should I make my hands clean?\par

¹⁴ God, I suffer all day long.\par And you punish me every morning.\par

¹⁵ God, I wanted to talk to other people\par about these things.\par But I knew I would be betraying\par your people.\par

¹⁶ I tried hard to understand these things.\par But it was all too hard for me\par

¹⁷ until I went to your temple. {\cf2\super [417]} \par I went to God’s temple,\par and then I understood.\par

¹⁸ God, you really have put those people\par in a dangerous situation.\par It is so easy for them to fall and be destroyed.\par

¹⁹ Trouble can come suddenly,\par and then those proud people are ruined.\par Terrible things can happen to them,\par and then they are finished.\par

^20-22 Lord, those people will be like a dream\par that we forget when we wake up.\par You will make those people disappear\par like the monsters in our dreams.\par

²³ \{I have everything I need!\}\par I am with you always.\par God, you hold my hand.\par

²⁴ God, you lead me and give me good advice.\par And later you will lead me to glory. {\cf2\super [418]} \par

²⁵ God, I have you in heaven.\par And when I am with you,\par what on earth can I want?\par

²⁶ Maybe my mind {\cf2\super [419]} and body\par will be destroyed,\par but I have the Rock {\cf2\super [420]} I love.\par I have God forever!\par

²⁷ God, people who leave you will be lost.\par You will destroy the people\par who are not faithful to you.\par

²⁸ As for me, I have come to God.\par And that is good for me.\par I have made the Lord my Master\par my place of safety.\par God, I have come to tell about\par all the things you have done.\par