A psalm of Asaph.
1 Elohim is truly good to Yisra’ĕl,
To those whose heart is clean.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
My steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the boasters,
When I saw the peace of the wicked.
4 For death has no pangs for them,
And their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
And they are not plagued like other men.
6 So pride is their necklace,
The garment of violence covers them.
7 Their eyes bulge from fatness;
Their heart overflows with imaginations.
8 They mock and speak in the evil of oppression;
They speak loftily.
9 They have put their mouth against the shamayim,
And their tongue walks through the earth,
10 “Therefore His people return here,
And waters filled are drained by them!”
11 And they have said, “How could Ĕl know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 See, these are the wicked,
And always at ease,
They have amassed wealth!
13 Indeed, in vain have I cleansed my heart,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For I am plagued all day long,
And my reproof is every morning.
15 If I had said, “Let me speak thus,”
See, I would have deceived
A generation of Your children.
16 Yet, when I tried to understand this,
It was labour to my eyes –
17 Until I went into the Miqdash of Ĕl;
I perceived their end.
18 Indeed, You put them in slippery places;
You make them fall to ruins.
19 How suddenly they are ruined!
Completely swept away through destructions.
20 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, when You awake
You despise their image,
As one does a dream after waking.
21 For my heart was in a ferment,
And I was pierced in my kidneys.
22 I was stupid and ignorant,
I was like a beast toward You.
23 Yet I am always with You,
You took hold of my right hand.
24 You lead me by Your counsel,
And afterward receive me unto esteem.
25 Whom do I have in the shamayim?
And I have desired no one besides You on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart shall waste away,
Elohim is the rock of my heart
And my portion forever.
27 For look, those who are far from
You perish;
You shall cut off all those
Who go whoring away from You.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near Elohim.
I have made my refuge in the Aḏon 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄,
To declare all Your works.