Psalm 73-77

English Standard Version

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

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

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

²³ Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you ^(AE)hold my right hand.
²⁴ You ^(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.

²⁷ For behold, those who are ^(AM)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is ^(AN)unfaithful to you.
²⁸ But 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.

⁴ Your foes have ^(BB)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    ^(BC)they set up their ^(BD)own signs for ^(BE)signs.
⁵ They were like those who swing ^(BF)axes
    in a forest of trees.^[d]
6 And all its ^(BG)carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
⁷ They ^(BH)set your sanctuary on fire;
    they ^(BI)profaned ^(BJ)the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
⁸ They ^(BK)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹ We do not see our ^(BL)signs;
    ^(BM)there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
¹⁰ How long, O God, ^(BN)is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
¹¹ Why ^(BO)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment^[e] and destroy them!

¹² Yet ^(BP)God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³ You ^(BQ)divided the sea by your might;
    you ^(BR)broke the heads of ^(BS)the sea monsters^[f] on the waters.
¹⁴ You crushed the heads of ^(BT)Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵ You ^(BU)split open springs and brooks;
    you ^(BV)dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶ Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established ^(BW)the heavenly lights and the sun.
¹⁷ You have ^(BX)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
    you have made ^(BY)summer and winter.

^18 (BZ)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
    and ^(CA)a foolish people reviles your name.
¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of your ^(CB)dove to the wild beasts;
    ^(CC)do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰ Have regard for ^(CD)the covenant,
    for ^(CE)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
²¹ Let not ^(CF)the downtrodden ^(CG)turn back in shame;
    let ^(CH)the poor and needy praise your name.

²² Arise, O God, ^(CI)defend your cause;
    ^(CJ)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
²³ Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
    ^(CK)the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

² “At ^(CO)the set time that I appoint
    I will judge ^(CP)with equity.
³ When the earth ^(CQ)totters, and all its inhabitants,
    it is I who keep steady its ^(CR)pillars. Selah
⁴ I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
    and to the wicked, ^(CS)‘Do not lift up your horn;
⁵ do not lift up your horn on high,
    or speak with haughty neck.’”

⁶ For not from the east or from the west
    and not from the wilderness comes ^(CT)lifting up,
⁷ but it is ^(CU)God who executes judgment,
    ^(CV)putting down one and lifting up another.
^8 (CW)For in the hand of the Lord there is ^(CX)a cup
    with foaming wine, ^(CY)well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
    and all the wicked of the earth
    shall ^(CZ)drain it down to the dregs.

⁹ But I will declare it forever;
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
^10 (DA)All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
    ^(DB)but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

⁴ Glorious are you, more majestic
    ^(DJ)than the mountains full of ^(DK)prey.
^5 (DL)The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
    ^(DM)they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
    were unable to use their hands.
⁶ At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
    both ^(DN)rider and horse lay stunned.

^7 (DO)But you, you are to be feared!
    Who can ^(DP)stand before you
    when once your anger is roused?
⁸ From the heavens you uttered judgment;
    ^(DQ)the earth feared and was still,
⁹ when God ^(DR)arose to establish judgment,
    to save all the humble of the earth. Selah

¹⁰ Surely ^(DS)the wrath of man shall praise you;
    the remnant^[h] of wrath you will put on like a belt.
^11 (DT)Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;
    let all around him ^(DU)bring gifts
    to him who ^(DV)is to be feared,
¹² who ^(DW)cuts off the spirit of princes,
    who ^(DX)is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

⁴ You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so ^(EG)troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵ I consider ^(EH)the days of old,
    the years long ago.
⁶ I said,^[i] “Let me remember my ^(EI)song in the night;
    let me ^(EJ)meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
⁷ “Will the Lord ^(EK)spurn forever,
    and never again ^(EL)be favorable?
⁸ Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his ^(EM)promises at an end for all time?
^9 (EN)Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    ^(EO)Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

¹⁰ Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the ^(EP)right hand of the Most High.”^[j]

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will ^(EQ)remember your wonders of old.
¹² I will ponder all your ^(ER)work,
    and meditate on your ^(ES)mighty deeds.
¹³ Your way, O God, is ^(ET)holy.
    ^(EU)What god is great like our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who ^(EV)works wonders;
    you have ^(EW)made known your might among the peoples.
¹⁵ You ^(EX)with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶ When ^(EY)the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
¹⁷ The clouds poured out water;
    the skies ^(EZ)gave forth thunder;
    your ^(FA)arrows flashed on every side.
^18 (FB)The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    ^(FC)your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth ^(FD)trembled and shook.
¹⁹ Your ^(FE)way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints ^(FF)were unseen.^[k]
20 You ^(FG)led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.