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1TRULY God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my footing was almost gone;
my steps had almost slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no pain until they die,
their bodies are well fed and strong.
5 They are not in trouble like others;
they not afflicted like most people are.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge with fatness,
their hearts overflow with conceit.
8 They scoff and speak maliciously;
they scoff and threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
and their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them,
and drink up their abundant waters.
11 They say, “How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?”
12 See, this is what the wicked are like—
always carefree; they continue amassing their wealth.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure,
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was too painful for me,
17 until I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 How suddenly are they brought to destruction,
as in a moment;
they are utterly swept away by terrors!
20 As a dream when one awakes,
so, O Lord, when You arise,
You will despise the fleeting form of their persons.
21 When my heart became embittered,
and I was pierced within,
22 then I became senseless and ignorant;
I was as a brute beast before You.
23 Yet I am always with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will receive me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart,
and my portion forever.
27 For those who are far from You will perish;
You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, it is good to draw near to God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all Your deeds.