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¹ A Psalm of Asaph. 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.