Psalm 73:12-28

English Standard Version

¹²Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they ^(A)increase in riches.
¹³All in vain have I ^(B)kept my heart clean
    and ^(C)washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴For all the day long I have been ^(D)stricken
    and ^(E)rebuked ^(F)every morning.
¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed ^(G)the generation of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me ^(H)a wearisome task,
¹⁷until I went into ^(I)the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their ^(J)end.

¹⁸Truly you set them in ^(K)slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹How they are destroyed ^(L)in a moment,
    swept away utterly by ^(M)terrors!
²⁰Like ^(N)a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when ^(O)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
²¹When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
²²I was ^(P)brutish and ignorant;
    I was like ^(Q)a beast toward you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you ^(R)hold my right hand.
²⁴You ^(S)guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will ^(T)receive me to glory.
²⁵^(U)Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
²⁶^(V)My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is ^(W)the strength^[a] of my heart and my ^(X)portion ^(Y)forever.

²⁷For behold, those who are ^(Z)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is ^(AA)unfaithful to you.
²⁸But for me it is good to ^(AB)be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my ^(AC)refuge,
    that I may ^(AD)tell of all your works.