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.
