1 A Psalm of Asaph. Only -- good to Israel God, to the clean of heart. And I -- as a little thing, My feet have been turned aside,

2 A s nothing, have my steps slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful,

3 T he peace of the wicked I see, That there are no bands at their death,

4 A nd their might firm.

5 I n the misery of mortals they are not, And with common men they are not plagued.

6 T herefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress.

7 T heir eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;

8 T hey do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, From on high they speak.

9 T hey have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth.

10 T herefore do His people return hither, And waters of fulness are wrung out to them.

11 A nd they have said, `How hath God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?'

12 L o, these the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength.

13 O nly -- a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash in innocency my hands,

14 A nd I am plagued all the day, And my reproof every morning.

15 I f I have said, `I recount thus,' Lo, a generation of Thy sons I have deceived.

16 A nd I think to know this, Perverseness it in mine eyes,

17 T ill I come in to the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter end.

18 O nly, in slippery places Thou dost set them, Thou hast caused them to fall to desolations.

19 H ow have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended -- consumed from terrors.

20 A s a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.

21 F or my heart doth show itself violent, And my reins prick themselves,

22 A nd I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee.

23 A nd I continually with Thee, Thou hast laid hold on my right hand.

24 W ith Thy counsel Thou dost lead me, And after honour dost receive me.

25 W hom have I in the heavens? And with Thee none I have desired in earth.

26 C onsumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion God to the age.

27 F or, lo, those far from Thee do perish, Thou hast cut off every one, Who is going a whoring from Thee.

28 A nd I -- nearness of God to me good, I have placed in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, To recount all Thy works!