PSALM 73
Quam bonus Israel!

Truly God is loving | unto Israel:

* even unto such as | are •of a• clean heart.

2 Nevertheless, my feet were | almost gone,

* my | treadings• had well-nigh slipt.

3 And why? I was grieved | at the wicked:

* I do also see the un- | -godly• in such prosperity.

4 For they are in no | peril• of death;

* but are | lusty and strong.

5 They come in no misfortune like | other folk;

* neither are they | plagued like other men.

6 And this is the cause that they are so | holden• with pride,

* and cruelty covereth | them as a garment.

7 Their eyes | swell with fatness,

* and they do | even what they lust.

8 They corrupt other, and speak of | wicked blasphemy;

* their talking is a- | -gainst the Most High.

9 For they stretch forth their mouth | unto• the heaven,

* and their tongue | goeth through the world.

10 Therefore fall the people | unto them,

* and thereout suck | they no small advantage.

11 Tush, say they, how should | God perceive it?

* is there knowledge | in the Most High?

12 Lo, these are the | ungodly,

* these prosper in the world, and these have | riches in possession:

13 And I said, Then have I cleansed my | heart in vain,

* and | washed my hands in innocency.

14 All the day long have | I been punished,

* and | chastened every morning.

15 Yea, and I had almost said | even• as they;

* but lo, then I should have condemned the gener- | -ation of thy children.

16 Then thought I to under- | -stand this;

* but it | was too hard for me,

17 Until I went into the sanctu- | -ary• of God:

* then understood I the | end of these men;

18 Namely, how thou dost set them in | slipper•y places,

* and castest them down, | and destroyest them.

19 O how suddenly do | they consume,

* perish, and | come •to a• fearful end!

20 Yea, even like as a dream | when •one a•waketh;

* so shalt thou make their image to | vanish out •of the• city.

21 Thus my | heart was grieved,

* and it went | even through my reins.

22 So foolish was | I, and ignorant,

* even as it were a | beast before thee.

23 Nevertheless, I am | alway• by thee;

* for thou hast holden me | by my right hand.

24 Thou shalt guide me | with thy counsel,

* and after that re- | -ceive me with glory.

25 Whom have I in | heaven• but thee?

* and there is none upon earth that I desire in com- | -parison of thee.

26 My flesh and my | heart faileth;

* but God is the strength of my heart, | and my •portion• for ever.

27 For lo, they that forsake | thee shall perish;

* thou hast destroyed all them that are un- | -faithful unto thee.

28 But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust in the | Lord GOD,

* and to speak of all thy works in the gates | of the •daughter• of Sion.

Glory be to the Father, and | to the Son,

* and | to the Holy Ghost,

As it was in the beginning, is now, and | ever shall be,

* world without | end.  Amen.