American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
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.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: {Or, After the glory, he hath &c.}After glory hath he sent me unto the nations which plundered you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.