A Psalm of Asaph.
{Or, Only good is God}Surely God is good to Israel,
Even to such as are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone;
My steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious at the {Or, fools}arrogant,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no pangs in their death;
But their strength is firm.
They are not {Hebrew: in the trouble of men.}in trouble as other men;
Neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;
Violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness:
{Or, The imagination of their heart overflow}They have more than heart could wish.
They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:
They speak {Or, from on high}loftily.
They have set their mouth {Or, against}in the heavens,
And their tongue walketh through the earth.
Therefore {Another reading is, he will bring back his people.}his people return hither:
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
And they say, How doth God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?
Behold, these are the wicked;
And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,
And washed my hands in innocency;
For all the day long have I been plagued,
And {Hebrew: my chastisement was.}chastened every morning.
If I had said, I will speak thus;
Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.
When I thought how I might know this,
It was {Hebrew: labor in mine eyes.}too painful for me;
Until I went into the sanctuary of God,
And considered their latter end.
Surely thou settest them in slippery places:
Thou castest them down to {Hebrew: ruins.}destruction.
How are they become a desolation in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
As a dream when one awaketh,
So, O Lord, {Or, in the city}when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
For my soul was {Hebrew: was in a ferment.}grieved,
And I was pricked in my {Hebrew: reins.}heart:
So brutish {Or, am}was I, and ignorant;
I was as a beast {Hebrew: with thee.}before thee.
Nevertheless I am continually with thee:
Thou hast holden my right hand.
Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,
And afterward receive me {Or, with}to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire {Or, with thee}besides thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth;
But God is the {Hebrew: rock.}strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:
Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, departing from thee.
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.
Querverweise zu Psalm 73,18 Ps 73,18
Let their way be {Hebrew: darkness and slippery places.}dark and slippery,And the angel of Jehovah pursuing them.
But the wicked shall perish,And the enemies of Jehovah shall be as {Or, the excellency of the pastures}the fat of lambs:They shall consume; {Or, like smoke}in smoke shall they consume away.
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,At the time when their foot shall slide:For the day of their calamity is at hand,And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;For Jehovah {Or, upholdeth his hand}upholdeth him with his hand.
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil upon them, {Or, in the year}even the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah.
I have seen the wicked in great power,And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
{Or, Yet he passed away}But one passed by, and, lo, he was not:Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright;For there is a happy end to the man of peace.
As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together;The end of the wicked shall be cut off.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;But I will trust in thee.
When the wicked spring as the grass,And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;It is that they shall be destroyed for ever.
And he hath brought upon them their own iniquity,And will cut them off in their own wickedness;Jehovah our God will cut them off.
who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,