² But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;^(B)
    I had nearly lost my foothold.^(C)
3 For I envied^(D) the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.^(E)

⁴ They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.^[a]
5 They are free^(F) from common human burdens;
    they are not plagued by human ills.
⁶ Therefore pride^(G) is their necklace;^(H)
    they clothe themselves with violence.^(I)
7 From their callous hearts^(J) comes iniquity^[b];
    their evil imaginations have no limits.
⁸ They scoff, and speak with malice;^(K)
    with arrogance^(L) they threaten oppression.^(M)
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
    and their tongues take possession of the earth.
¹⁰ Therefore their people turn to them
    and drink up waters in abundance.^[c]
11 They say, “How would God know?
    Does the Most High know anything?”

¹² This is what the wicked are like—
    always free of care,^(N) they go on amassing wealth.^(O)

¹³ Surely in vain^(P) I have kept my heart pure
    and have washed my hands in innocence.^(Q)
14 All day long I have been afflicted,^(R)
    and every morning brings new punishments.

¹⁵ If I had spoken out like that,
    I would have betrayed your children.
¹⁶ When I tried to understand^(S) all this,
    it troubled me deeply
¹⁷ till I entered the sanctuary^(T) of God;
    then I understood their final destiny.^(U)

¹⁸ Surely you place them on slippery ground;^(V)
    you cast them down to ruin.^(W)
19 How suddenly^(X) are they destroyed,
    completely swept away^(Y) by terrors!
²⁰ They are like a dream^(Z) when one awakes;^(AA)
    when you arise, Lord,
    you will despise them as fantasies.^(AB)

²¹ When my heart was grieved
    and my spirit embittered,
²² I was senseless^(AC) and ignorant;
    I was a brute beast^(AD) before you.

²³ Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.^(AE)
24 You guide^(AF) me with your counsel,^(AG)
    and afterward you will take me into glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?^(AH)
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.^(AI)
26 My flesh and my heart^(AJ) may fail,^(AK)
    but God is the strength^(AL) of my heart
    and my portion^(AM) forever.

²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;^(AN)
    you destroy all who are unfaithful^(AO) to you.
²⁸ But as for me, it is good to be near God.^(AP)
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;^(AQ)
    I will tell of all your deeds.^(AR)

³ I remembered^(F) you, God, and I groaned;^(G)
    I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.^[b](H)
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
    I was too troubled to speak.^(I)
5 I thought about the former days,^(J)
    the years of long ago;
⁶ I remembered my songs in the night.
    My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

⁷ “Will the Lord reject forever?^(K)
    Will he never show his favor^(L) again?
⁸ Has his unfailing love^(M) vanished forever?
    Has his promise^(N) failed for all time?
⁹ Has God forgotten to be merciful?^(O)
    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?^(P)”

¹⁰ Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.^(Q)
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles^(R) of long ago.
¹² I will consider^(S) all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”^(T)

¹³ Your ways, God, are holy.
    What god is as great as our God?^(U)
14 You are the God who performs miracles;^(V)
    you display your power among the peoples.
¹⁵ With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,^(W)
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

¹⁶ The waters^(X) saw you, God,
    the waters saw you and writhed;^(Y)
    the very depths were convulsed.
¹⁷ The clouds poured down water,^(Z)
    the heavens resounded with thunder;^(AA)
    your arrows^(AB) flashed back and forth.
¹⁸ Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,^(AC)
    your lightning^(AD) lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and quaked.^(AE)
19 Your path^(AF) led through the sea,^(AG)
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰ You led your people^(AH) like a flock^(AI)
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.^(AJ)

⁹ The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,^(AZ)
    turned back on the day of battle;^(BA)
10 they did not keep God’s covenant^(BB)
    and refused to live by his law.^(BC)
11 They forgot what he had done,^(BD)
    the wonders he had shown them.
¹² He did miracles^(BE) in the sight of their ancestors
    in the land of Egypt,^(BF) in the region of Zoan.^(BG)
13 He divided the sea^(BH) and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.^(BI)
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.^(BJ)
15 He split the rocks^(BK) in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ But they continued to sin^(BL) against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
¹⁸ They willfully put God to the test^(BM)
    by demanding the food they craved.^(BN)
19 They spoke against God;^(BO)
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰ True, he struck the rock,
    and water gushed out,^(BP)
    streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread?
    Can he supply meat^(BQ) for his people?”
²¹ When the Lord heard them, he was furious;
    his fire broke out^(BR) against Jacob,
    and his wrath rose against Israel,
²² for they did not believe in God
    or trust^(BS) in his deliverance.
²³ Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;^(BT)
24 he rained down manna^(BU) for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵ Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat.
²⁶ He let loose the east wind^(BV) from the heavens
    and by his power made the south wind blow.
²⁷ He rained meat down on them like dust,
    birds^(BW) like sand on the seashore.
²⁸ He made them come down inside their camp,
    all around their tents.
²⁹ They ate till they were gorged—^(BX)
    he had given them what they craved.
³⁰ But before they turned from what they craved,
    even while the food was still in their mouths,^(BY)
31 God’s anger rose against them;
    he put to death the sturdiest^(BZ) among them,
    cutting down the young men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;^(CA)
    in spite of his wonders,^(CB) they did not believe.^(CC)
33 So he ended their days in futility^(CD)
    and their years in terror.
³⁴ Whenever God slew them, they would seek^(CE) him;
    they eagerly turned to him again.
³⁵ They remembered that God was their Rock,^(CF)
    that God Most High was their Redeemer.^(CG)
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,^(CH)
    lying to him with their tongues;
³⁷ their hearts were not loyal^(CI) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he was merciful;^(CJ)
    he forgave^(CK) their iniquities^(CL)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger^(CM)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.
³⁹ He remembered that they were but flesh,^(CN)
    a passing breeze^(CO) that does not return.

⁴⁰ How often they rebelled^(CP) against him in the wilderness^(CQ)
    and grieved him^(CR) in the wasteland!
⁴¹ Again and again they put God to the test;^(CS)
    they vexed the Holy One of Israel.^(CT)
42 They did not remember^(CU) his power—
    the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,^(CV)
43 the day he displayed his signs^(CW) in Egypt,
    his wonders^(CX) in the region of Zoan.
⁴⁴ He turned their river into blood;^(CY)
    they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵ He sent swarms of flies^(CZ) that devoured them,
    and frogs^(DA) that devastated them.
⁴⁶ He gave their crops to the grasshopper,^(DB)
    their produce to the locust.^(DC)
47 He destroyed their vines with hail^(DD)
    and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
⁴⁸ He gave over their cattle to the hail,
    their livestock^(DE) to bolts of lightning.
⁴⁹ He unleashed against them his hot anger,^(DF)
    his wrath, indignation and hostility—
    a band of destroying angels.^(DG)
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death
    but gave them over to the plague.
⁵¹ He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,^(DH)
    the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.^(DI)
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;^(DJ)
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
⁵³ He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed^(DK) their enemies.^(DL)
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand^(DM) had taken.
⁵⁵ He drove out nations^(DN) before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;^(DO)
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶ But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
⁵⁷ Like their ancestors^(DP) they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.^(DQ)
58 They angered him^(DR) with their high places;^(DS)
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.^(DT)
59 When God heard^(DU) them, he was furious;^(DV)
    he rejected Israel^(DW) completely.
⁶⁰ He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,^(DX)
    the tent he had set up among humans.^(DY)
61 He sent the ark of his might^(DZ) into captivity,^(EA)
    his splendor into the hands of the enemy.
⁶² He gave his people over to the sword;^(EB)
    he was furious with his inheritance.^(EC)
63 Fire consumed^(ED) their young men,
    and their young women had no wedding songs;^(EE)
64 their priests were put to the sword,^(EF)
    and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,^(EG)
    as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
⁶⁶ He beat back his enemies;
    he put them to everlasting shame.^(EH)
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;^(EI)
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,^(EJ)
    Mount Zion,^(EK) which he loved.
⁶⁹ He built his sanctuary^(EL) like the heights,
    like the earth that he established forever.
⁷⁰ He chose David^(EM) his servant
    and took him from the sheep pens;
⁷¹ from tending the sheep^(EN) he brought him
    to be the shepherd^(EO) of his people Jacob,
    of Israel his inheritance.
⁷² And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;^(EP)
    with skillful hands he led them.