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 well nigh slipped. |
3 | For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. |
4 | For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek. |
5 | They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men. |
6 | Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as 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 the heavens, and their tongue struts through 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 | Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. |
13 | All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. |
14 | For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning. |
15 | If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have been untrue to the generation of thy 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 thou dost set them in slippery places; thou dost 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 beast toward thee. |
23 | Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou dost hold my right hand. |
24 | Thou dost guide me with thy counsel, and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory. |
25 | Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee. |
26 | My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. |
27 | For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish; thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee. |
28 | But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works. |