Psalm 73-77

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁴ For they have no pain;
    their bodies are sound and sleek.
⁵ They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not plagued like other people.^(D)
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
    violence covers them like a garment.^(E)
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.^(F)
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.^(G)
9 They set their mouths against heaven,
    and their tongues range over the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore the people turn and praise them^[a]
    and find no fault in them.^[b]
11 And they say, “How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”^(H)
12 Such are the wicked;
    always at ease, they increase in riches.^(I)
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean
    and washed my hands in innocence.^(J)
14 For all day long I have been plagued
    and am punished every morning.^(K)

¹⁵ If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
    I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
¹⁶ But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me a wearisome task,^(L)
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    then I perceived their end.^(M)
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.^(N)
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
    swept away utterly by terrors!^(O)
20 They are^[c] like a dream when one awakes;
    on awaking you despise their phantoms.^(P)

²¹ When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
²² I was stupid and ignorant;
    I was like a brute beast toward you.^(Q)
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you hold my right hand.
²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will receive me with honor.^[d](R)
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.^(S)
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength^[e] of my heart and my portion forever.^(T)

²⁷ Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
    you put an end to those who are false to you.^(U)
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my refuge,
    to tell of all your works.^(V)

⁴ Your foes have roared within your holy place;
    they set up their emblems there.^(Z)
5 At the upper entrance they hacked
    the wooden trellis with axes.^[f](AA)
6 And then, with hatchets and hammers,
    they smashed all its carved work.
⁷ They set your sanctuary on fire;
    they desecrated the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it to the ground.^(AB)
8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.^(AC)

⁹ We do not see our emblems;
    there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is no one among us who knows how long.^(AD)
10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?^(AE)
11 Why do you hold back your hand;
    why do you keep your hand in^[g] your bosom?^(AF)

¹² Yet God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the earth.^(AG)
13 You divided the sea by your might;
    you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.^(AH)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
    you gave him as food^[h] for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵ You cut openings for springs and torrents;
    you dried up ever-flowing streams.^(AI)
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you established the luminaries^[i] and the sun.^(AJ)
17 You have fixed all the bounds of the earth;
    you made summer and winter.^(AK)

¹⁸ Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
    and an impious people reviles your name.^(AL)
19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;
    do not forget the life of your poor forever.^(AM)

²⁰ Have regard for your^[j] covenant,
    for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.^(AN)
21 Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;
    let the poor and needy praise your name.^(AO)
22 Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
    remember how the impious scoff at you all day long.^(AP)
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
    the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.^(AQ)

² At the set time that I appoint,
    I will judge with equity.
³ When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants,
    it is I who keep its pillars steady. Selah
⁴ I say to the boastful, “Do not boast,”
    and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn;^(AS)
5 do not lift up your horn on high
    or speak with insolent neck.”^(AT)

⁶ For not from the east or from the west
    and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,^(AU)
7 but it is God who executes judgment,
    putting down one and lifting up another.^(AV)
8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
    with foaming wine, well mixed;
he will pour a draught from it,
    and all the wicked of the earth
    shall drain it down to the dregs.^(AW)
9 But I will rejoice^[k] forever;
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.^(AX)

¹⁰ All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
    but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.^(AY)

⁴ Glorious are you, more majestic
    than the everlasting mountains.^[l]
5 The courageous were stripped of their spoil;
    they sank into sleep;
none of the troops
    was able to lift a hand.^(BC)
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
    both rider and horse lay stunned.

⁷ But you indeed are awesome!
    Who can stand before you
    when your anger is roused?^(BD)
8 From the heavens you uttered judgment;
    the earth feared and was still^(BE)
9 when God rose up to establish judgment,
    to save all the oppressed of the earth. Selah^(BF)

¹⁰ Human wrath serves only to praise you,
    when you bind the last bit of your^[m] wrath around you.^(BG)
11 Make vows to the Lord your God and perform them;
    let all who are around him bring gifts
    to the one who is awesome,^(BH)
12 who cuts off the spirit of princes,
    who inspires fear in the kings of the earth.^(BI)

⁴ You keep my eyelids from closing;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵ I consider the days of old
    and remember the years of long ago.^(BM)
6 I commune^[n] with my heart in the night;
    I meditate and search my spirit:^[o](BN)
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever
    and never again be favorable?^(BO)
8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?^(BP)
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah^(BQ)
10 And I say, “It is my grief
    that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”^(BR)

¹¹ I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
    I will remember your wonders of old.^(BS)
12 I will meditate on all your work
    and muse on your mighty deeds.
¹³ Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is so great as our God?^(BT)
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have displayed your might among the peoples.
¹⁵ With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah^(BU)

¹⁶ When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    the very deep trembled.^(BV)
17 The clouds poured out water;
    the skies thundered;
    your arrows flashed on every side.^(BW)
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.^(BX)
19 Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the mighty waters,
    yet your footprints were unseen.^(BY)
20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.^(BZ)