The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 No doubt about it! God is good - good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
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Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness.
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But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.
3 I was looking the other way, looking up to the people
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For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 At the top, envying the wicked who have it made,
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For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.
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They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence,
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Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.
7 Pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness.
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Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words.
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They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They're full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace.
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They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 People actually listen to them - can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.
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Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.
11 What's going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody's tending the store.
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And they say, "How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?"
12 The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches
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Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 I've been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me?
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All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
14 A long run of bad luck, that's what - a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.
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For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
15 If I'd have given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed your dear children.
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If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache . . .
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But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture:
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until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
18 The slippery road you've put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.
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Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
19 In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and - nightmare!
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How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
20 We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing. There's nothing to them. And there never was.
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Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy,
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When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence.
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I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.
23 I'm still in your presence, but you've taken my hand.
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Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.
24 You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me.
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You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 You're all I want in heaven! You're all I want on earth!
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Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful.
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My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Look! Those who left you are falling apart! Deserters, they'll never be heard from again.
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For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But I'm in the very presence of God - oh, how refreshing it is! I've made Lord God my home. God, I'm telling the world what you do!
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But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.