Psalms 73

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 A psalm of Asaph. How good God is to the upright, the Lord, to those who are clean of heart!	1 The understanding of Asaph. O God, why have you rejected us to the end. Why has your fury become enraged over the sheep of your pasture?
2 I But, as for me, I lost my balance; my feet all but slipped,	2 Be mindful of your congregation, which you have possessed from the beginning. You redeemed the scepter of your inheritance, mount Zion, in which you have dwelt.
3 Because I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.	3 Lift up your hands against their arrogance in the end. How great the malice of the enemy has been in the sanctuary!
4 For they suffer no pain; their bodies are healthy and sleek.	4 And those who hate you have been glorified, in the midst of your solemnity. They have set up their own signs as a proof,
5 They are free of the burdens of life; they are not afflicted like others.	5 as if it had been issued from on high; yet they did not understand. As in a forest of chopped wood,
6 Thus pride adorns them as a necklace; violence clothes them as a robe.	6 they have cut down the entrances themselves. With axe and hatchet, they have brought it down.
7 Out of their stupidity comes sin; evil thoughts flood their hearts.	7 They have set fire to your Sanctuary. They have polluted the tabernacle of your name on earth.
8 They scoff and spout their malice; from on high they utter threats.	8 They have said in their heart, the whole group of them together: “Let us cause all the feast days of God to cease from the land.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens, their tongues roam the earth.	9 We have not seen our proof; there is now no prophet. And he will no longer know us.”
10 So my people turn to them and drink deeply of their words.	10 How long, O God, will the enemy place blame? Is the adversary to provoke your name until the end?
11 They say, "Does God really know?" "Does the Most High have any knowledge?"	11 Why do you turn your hand away, even your right hand, from the midst of your sinews, until the end?
12 Such, then, are the wicked, always carefree, increasing their wealth.	12 But God is our king before all ages. He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Is it in vain that I have kept my heart clean, washed my hands in innocence?	13 In your virtue, you confirmed the sea. You crushed the heads of the serpents in the waters.
14 For I am afflicted day after day, chastised every morning.	14 You have broken the heads of the serpent. You have given him as food for the people of the Ethiopians.
15 Had I thought, "I will speak as they do," I would have betrayed your people.	15 You have disrupted the fountains and the torrents. You have dried up the rivers of Ethan.
16 Though I tried to understand all this, it was too difficult for me,	16 Yours is the day, and yours is the night. You have made the morning light and the sun.
17 Till I entered the sanctuary of God and came to understand their end.	17 You have made all the limits of the earth. The summer and the spring were formed by you.
18 You set them, indeed, on a slippery road; you hurl them down to ruin.	18 Be mindful of this: the enemy placed blame against the Lord, and a foolish people has incited against your name.
19 How suddenly they are devastated; undone by disasters forever!	19 Do not hand over to beasts the souls that confess to you; and do not forget the souls of your poor until the end.
20 They are like a dream after waking, Lord, dismissed like shadows when you arise.	20 Consider your covenant. For those who have been darkened upon the earth have been filled by the iniquity of the houses.
21 Since my heart was embittered and my soul deeply wounded,	21 Do not allow the humble to be turned away in confusion. The poor and the needy will praise your name.
22 I was stupid and could not understand; I was like a brute beast in your presence.	22 Rise up, O God, judge your own case. Call to mind the accusations against you, which are made by the foolish all day long.
23 Yet I am always with you; you take hold of my right hand.	23 Do not forget the voices of your adversaries. The arrogance of those who hate you rises up continually.
24 With your counsel you guide me, and at the end receive me with honor.
25 Whom else have I in the heavens? None beside you delights me on earth.
26 Though my flesh and my heart fail, God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever.
27 But those who are far from you perish; you destroy those unfaithful to you.
28 As for me, to be near God is my good, to make the Lord GOD my refuge. I shall declare all your works in the gates of daughter Zion.