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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.