| 1 | {A Psalm of Asaph.} Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are of a pure heart. |
| 2 | But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped; |
| 3 | For I was envious at the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked. |
| 4 | For they have no pangs in their death, and their body is well nourished; |
| 5 | They have not the hardships of mankind, neither are they plagued like [other] men: |
| 6 | Therefore pride encompasseth them as a neck-chain, violence covereth them [as] a garment; |
| 7 | Their eyes stand out from fatness, they exceed the imaginations of their heart: |
| 8 | They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, they speak loftily: |
| 9 | They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. |
| 10 | Therefore his people turn hither, and waters in fulness are wrung out to them. |
| 11 | And they say, How can �God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High? |
| 12 | Behold, these are the wicked, and they prosper in the world: they heap up riches. |
| 13 | Truly have I purified my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency: |
| 14 | For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. |
| 15 | If I said, I will speak thus, behold, I should be faithless to the generation of thy children. |
| 16 | When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes; |
| 17 | Until I went into the sanctuaries of �God; [then] understood I their end. |
| 18 | Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou castest them down in ruins. |
| 19 | How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors. |
| 20 | As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image. |
| 21 | When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins, |
| 22 | Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was [as] a beast with thee. |
| 23 | Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand; |
| 24 | Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me. |
| 25 | Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee. |
| 26 | My flesh and my heart faileth: God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever. |
| 27 | For behold, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou destroyest every one that goeth a whoring from thee. |
| 28 | But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, that I may declare all thy works. |