¹Truly God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;

my steps had almost slipped.

³For I was envious of the boastful[#Ps 37:1]

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For there are no pangs in their death,

but their strength is firm.

⁵They are not in trouble as other men are,[#Ps 73:12]

nor are they plagued like other men.

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace;[#Jdg 8:26]

violence covers them like a garment.

⁷Their eyes bulge with fatness;[#Job 15:27]

they have more than a heart could wish.

⁸They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;[#Jude 16]

they speak loftily.

⁹They set their mouths against the heavens,[#Rev 13:6]

and their tongue parades through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore his people return here,

and waters of abundance are drunk by them.

¹¹They say, “How does God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

¹²Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease,

they increase in riches.

¹³Surely I have kept my heart clean in vain,[#Job 34:9]

and washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴For all the day long I have been plagued,

and chastened every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.

¹⁶When I thought how to understand this,

it was troublesome in my sight,

¹⁷until I went into the sanctuary of God;[#Ps 27:4; 77:13]

then I understood their end.

¹⁸Surely You set them in slippery places;[#Ps 35:6]

You cast them down to destruction.

¹⁹How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment!

They are utterly consumed by terrors!

²⁰Like a dream when one awakes,[#Job 20:8; Ps 78:65]

O Lord, when awakened,

You will despise their image.

²¹When my heart was embittered,

and I was pierced in my heart,

²²I was foolish and ignorant;[#Ps 92:6]

I was like a beast before You.

²³Nevertheless I am continually with You;

You have held me by my right hand.

²⁴You will guide me with Your counsel,[#Ps 32:8]

and afterward receive me to glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but You?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.

²⁶My flesh and my heart fail,[#Ps 84:2]

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

²⁷For behold, those who are far from You shall perish;[#Ps 119:155]

You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.

²⁸But it is good for me to draw near to God;[#Jas 4:8]

I have put my trust in the Lord God ,

that I may declare all Your works.