The Message Bible MSG
Young's Literal Translation YLT
1 No doubt about it! God is good - good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
1
A Psalm of Asaph. Only -- good to Israel [is] God, to the clean of heart. And I -- as a little thing, My feet have been turned aside,
2 But I nearly missed it, missed seeing his goodness.
2
As nothing, have my steps slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful,
3 I was looking the other way, looking up to the people
3
The peace of the wicked I see, That there are no bands at their death,
4 At the top, envying the wicked who have it made,
4
And their might [is] firm.
5 Who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.
5
In the misery of mortals they are not, And with common men they are not plagued.
6 Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence,
6
Therefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress.
7 Pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness.
7
Their eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;
8 They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words.
8
They do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, From on high they speak.
9 They're full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace.
9
They have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth.
10 People actually listen to them - can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.
10
Therefore do His people return hither, And waters of fulness are wrung out to them.
11 What's going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody's tending the store.
11
And they have said, `How hath God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?'
12 The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches
12
Lo, these [are] the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength.
13 I've been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me?
13
Only -- a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash in innocency my hands,
14 A long run of bad luck, that's what - a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.
14
And I am plagued all the day, And my reproof [is] every morning.
15 If I'd have given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed your dear children.
15
If I have said, `I recount thus,' Lo, a generation of Thy sons I have deceived.
16 Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache . . .
16
And I think to know this, Perverseness it [is] in mine eyes,
17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture:
17
Till I come in to the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter end.
18 The slippery road you've put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.
18
Only, in slippery places Thou dost set them, Thou hast caused them to fall to desolations.
19 In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and - nightmare!
19
How have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended -- consumed from terrors.
20 We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing. There's nothing to them. And there never was.
20
As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.
21 When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy,
21
For my heart doth show itself violent, And my reins prick themselves,
22 I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence.
22
And I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee.
23 I'm still in your presence, but you've taken my hand.
23
And I [am] continually with Thee, Thou hast laid hold on my right hand.
24 You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me.
24
With Thy counsel Thou dost lead me, And after honour dost receive me.
25 You're all I want in heaven! You're all I want on earth!
25
Whom have I in the heavens? And with Thee none I have desired in earth.
26 When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful.
26
Consumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion [is] God to the age.
27 Look! Those who left you are falling apart! Deserters, they'll never be heard from again.
27
For, lo, those far from Thee do perish, Thou hast cut off every one, Who is going a whoring from Thee.
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!
28
And I -- nearness of God to me [is] good, I have placed in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, To recount all Thy 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.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.