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v1
Surely God is good to Israel, to those pure of heart.
v2
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped,
v3
because I envied the boastful when I saw the well-being ^[Or “peace” or “prosperity”] of the wicked.
v4
For there are no pains up to their death, and their bodies are healthy. ^[Literally “fat”]
v5
They do not have ordinary trouble, ^[Literally “the trouble of man”] and they are not plagued as other people. ^[Hebrew “humankind”]
v6
Therefore pride is their necklace; an outfit of violence covers them.
v7
Their eye bulges from fat. ^[A slightly different Hebrew reading might be reflected in the LXX’s “their iniquity comes out of fatness”] Imaginings overflow their heart.
v8
They mock and speak maliciously of oppression; they speak as though from on high.
v9
They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue roams the earth.
v10
Therefore his people turn there, ^[That is, toward the wicked] and abundant waters are slurped up by them.
v11
And they say, “How does God know?” and, “Does the Most High have knowledge?“
v12
See, these are the wicked, and they increase wealth, ever carefree.
v13
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence.
v14
And I have been plagued all day and rebuked every morning. ^[Literally “to the mornings”]
v15
If I had said, “I will speak thus,” behold, I would have acted treacherously against your children’s generation.
v16
When I thought about how to understand this, it was troubling in my eyes
v17
until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their fate.
v18
Surely you set them on slippery places. You cause them to fall onto ruin. ^[Or “fall for deceptions”]
v19
How they become a desolation in a moment! They come to a complete end by terrors.
v20
Like a dream upon awakening, when you wake up, O Lord, you will despise their fleeting form. ^[Or “image”]
v21
When my heart was embittered and I felt stabbed in my kidneys,
v22
then I was brutish and ignorant. With you I was like the beasts.
v23
But I am continually with you; you have hold of my right hand.
v24
You will guide me with your advice, and afterward you will take me into honor. ^[Or “to glory”]
v25
Whom do I have in the heavens except you? And with you I have no other desire on earth.
v26
My flesh and heart failed, but God is the strength ^[Literally “rock”] of my heart and my reward forever.
v27
For indeed, those distancing themselves from you will be ruined. You destroy each who abandons you for harlotry.
v28
But as for me, the approach to God is for my good. I have set the Lord Yahweh as my refuge, in order to tell all your works.