Psalm 73

English Standard Version

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

73 Truly God is good to ^(B)Israel,
    to those who are ^(C)pure in heart.
²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
    my steps had nearly slipped.
³^(D)For I was ^(E)envious of the arrogant
    when I saw the ^(F)prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
⁵They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not ^(G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
⁶Therefore pride is ^(H)their necklace;
    violence covers them as ^(I)a garment.
⁷Their ^(J)eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸They scoff and ^(K)speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
¹⁰Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find ^(L)no fault in them.^[a]
¹¹And they say, ^(M)“How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹²Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they ^(N)increase in riches.
¹³All in vain have I ^(O)kept my heart clean
    and ^(P)washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴For all the day long I have been ^(Q)stricken
    and ^(R)rebuked ^(S)every morning.
¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed ^(T)the generation of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me ^(U)a wearisome task,
¹⁷until I went into ^(V)the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their ^(W)end.

¹⁸Truly you set them in ^(X)slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹How they are destroyed ^(Y)in a moment,
    swept away utterly by ^(Z)terrors!
²⁰Like ^(AA)a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when ^(AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
²¹When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
²²I was ^(AC)brutish and ignorant;
    I was like ^(AD)a beast toward you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you ^(AE)hold my right hand.
²⁴You ^(AF)guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will ^(AG)receive me to glory.
²⁵^(AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
²⁶^(AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is ^(AJ)the strength^[b] of my heart and my ^(AK)portion ^(AL)forever.

²⁷For behold, those who are ^(AM)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is ^(AN)unfaithful to you.
²⁸But for me it is good to ^(AO)be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my ^(AP)refuge,
    that I may ^(AQ)tell of all your works.