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BOOK III

(Psalms 73-89)

Psalm 73

Plea for Relief from Oppressors

A Psalm of Asaph.
¹ Truly God is good to the upright,^*
   to those who are pure in heart.
² But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
   my steps had nearly slipped.
³ For I was envious of the arrogant;
   I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴ For they have no pain;
   their bodies are sound and sleek.
⁵ They are not in trouble as others are;
   they are not plagued like other people.
⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace;
   violence covers them like a garment.
⁷ Their eyes swell out with fatness;
   their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸ They scoff and speak with malice;
   loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹ They set their mouths against heaven,
   and their tongues range over the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore the people turn and praise them,^*
   and find no fault in them.^*
11 And they say, ‘How can God know?
   Is there knowledge in the Most High?’
¹² Such are the wicked;
   always at ease, they increase in riches.
¹³ All in vain I have kept my heart clean
   and washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴ For all day long I have been plagued,
   and am punished every morning.

¹⁵ If I had said, ‘I will talk on in this way’,
   I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
¹⁶ But when I thought how to understand this,
   it seemed to me a wearisome task,
¹⁷ until I went into the sanctuary of God;
   then I perceived their end.
¹⁸ Truly you set them in slippery places;
   you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹ How they are destroyed in a moment,
   swept away utterly by terrors!
²⁰ They are^* like a dream when one awakes;
   on awaking you despise their phantoms.

²¹ When my soul was embittered,
   when I was pricked in heart,
²² I was stupid and ignorant;
   I was like a brute beast towards you.
²³ Nevertheless I am continually with you;
   you hold my right hand.
²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
   and afterwards you will receive me with honour.^*
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
   And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
   but God is the strength^* of my heart and my portion for ever.

²⁷ Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
   you put an end to those who are false to you.
²⁸ But for me it is good to be near God;
   I have made the Lord God my refuge,
   to tell of all your works.