Salmo 73

¹ 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.