1 Surely God is good to Israel,

Even to such as are pure in 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,

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no pangs in their death;

But their strength is firm.

5 They are not in trouble as other men;

Neither are they plagued like other men.

6 Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;

Violence covereth them as a garment.

7 Their eyes stand out with fatness:

They have more than heart could wish.

8 They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:

They speak loftily.

9 They have set their mouth in the heavens,

And their tongue walketh through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return hither:

And waters of a full cup are drained by them.

11 And they say, How doth God know?

And is there knowledge in the Most High?

12 Behold, these are the wicked;

And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.

13 Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,

And washed my hands in innocency;

14 For all the day long have I been plagued,

And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, I will speak thus;

Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.

16 When I thought how I might know this,

It was too painful for me;

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God,

And considered their latter end.

18 Surely thou settest them in slippery places:

Thou castest them down to destruction.

19 How are they become a desolation in a moment!

They are utterly consumed with terrors.

20 As a dream when one awaketh,

So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.

21 For my soul was grieved,

And I was pricked in my heart:

22 So brutish was I, and ignorant;

I was as a beast before thee.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee:

Thou hast holden my right hand.

24 Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,

And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.

26 My flesh and my heart faileth;

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:

Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, departing from thee.

28 But it is good for me to draw near unto God:

I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge,

That I may tell of all thy works.

1 A Psalm of Asaph. Only -- good to Israel [is] God, to the clean of heart. And I -- as a little thing, My feet have been turned aside,

2 As nothing, have my steps slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful,

3 The peace of the wicked I see, That there are no bands at their death,

4 And their might [is] firm.

5 In the misery of mortals they are not, And with common men they are not plagued.

6 Therefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress.

7 Their eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;

8 They do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, From on high they speak.

9 They have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth.

10 Therefore do His people return hither, And waters of fulness are wrung out to them.

11 And they have said, `How hath God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?`

12 Lo, these [are] the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength.

13 Only -- a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash in innocency my hands,

14 And I am plagued all the day, And my reproof [is] every morning.

15 If I have said, `I recount thus,` Lo, a generation of Thy sons I have deceived.

16 And I think to know this, Perverseness it [is] in mine eyes,

17 Till I come in to the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter end.

18 Only, in slippery places Thou dost set them, Thou hast caused them to fall to desolations.

19 How have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended -- consumed from terrors.

20 As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.

21 For my heart doth show itself violent, And my reins prick themselves,

22 And I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee.

23 And I [am] continually with Thee, Thou hast laid hold on my right hand.

24 With Thy counsel Thou dost lead me, And after honour dost receive me.

25 Whom have I in the heavens? And with Thee none I have desired in earth.

26 Consumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion [is] God to the age.

27 For, lo, those far from Thee do perish, Thou hast cut off every one, Who is going a whoring from Thee.

28 And I -- nearness of God to me [is] good, I have placed in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, To recount all Thy works!