Young's Literal Translation YLT
New International Version NIV
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,
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Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 As nothing, have my steps slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful,
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But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 The peace of the wicked I see, That there are no bands at their death,
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For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 And their might [is] firm.
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They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.
5 In the misery of mortals they are not, And with common men they are not plagued.
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They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress.
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Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
7 Their eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;
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From their callous hearts comes iniquity ; their evil imaginations have no limits.
8 They do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, From on high they speak.
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They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 They have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth.
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Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore do His people return hither, And waters of fulness are wrung out to them.
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Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.
11 And they have said, `How hath God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?'
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They say, “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?”
12 Lo, these [are] the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength.
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This is what the wicked are like— always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
13 Only -- a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash in innocency my hands,
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Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence.
14 And I am plagued all the day, And my reproof [is] every morning.
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All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.
15 If I have said, `I recount thus,' Lo, a generation of Thy sons I have deceived.
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If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children.
16 And I think to know this, Perverseness it [is] in mine eyes,
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When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply
17 Till I come in to the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter end.
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till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
18 Only, in slippery places Thou dost set them, Thou hast caused them to fall to desolations.
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Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
19 How have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended -- consumed from terrors.
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How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
20 As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.
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They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.
21 For my heart doth show itself violent, And my reins prick themselves,
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When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
22 And I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee.
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I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
23 And I [am] continually with Thee, Thou hast laid hold on my right hand.
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Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
24 With Thy counsel Thou dost lead me, And after honour dost receive me.
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You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in the heavens? And with Thee none I have desired in earth.
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Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 Consumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion [is] God to the age.
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My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For, lo, those far from Thee do perish, Thou hast cut off every one, Who is going a whoring from Thee.
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Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 And I -- nearness of God to me [is] good, I have placed in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, To recount all Thy works!
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But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.
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