1: (A Psalm of Asaph.) Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are of a pure 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, seeing the prosperity of the wicked. 4: For they have no pangs in their death, and their body is well nourished; 5: They have not the hardships of mankind, neither are they plagued like [other] men: 6: Therefore pride encompasseth them as a neck-chain, violence covereth them [as] a garment; 7: Their eyes stand out from fatness, they exceed the imaginations of their heart: 8: They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, they speak loftily: 9: They set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. 10: Therefore his people turn hither, and waters in fulness are wrung out to them. 11: And they say, How can God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High? 12: Behold, these are the wicked, and they prosper in the world: they heap up riches. 13: Truly have I purified my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency: 14: For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. 15: If I said, I will speak thus, behold, I should be faithless to the generation of thy children. 16: When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes; 17: Until I went into the sanctuaries of God; [then] understood I their end. 18: Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou castest them down in ruins. 19: How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors. 20: As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image. 21: When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins, 22: Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was [as] a beast with thee. 23: Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand; 24: Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me. 25: Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee. 26: My flesh and my heart faileth: God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever. 27: For behold, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou destroyest every one that goeth a whoring from thee. 28: But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, that I may declare all thy works.
