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[Psalm Of Asaph] Indeed God is good to Israel, the Lord to those who are pure of heart.
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My feet were on the point of stumbling, a little more and I had slipped,
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envying the arrogant as I did, and seeing the prosperity of the wicked.
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For them no such thing as pain, untroubled, their comfortable portliness;
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exempt from the cares which are the human lot, they have no part in Adam's afflictions.
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So pride is a necklace to them, violence the garment they wear.
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From their fat oozes out malice, their hearts drip with cunning.
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Cynically they advocate evil, loftily they advocate force.
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Their mouth claims heaven for themselves, and their tongue is never still on earth.
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That is why my people turn to them, and enjoy the waters of plenty,
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saying, 'How can God know? What knowledge can the Most High have?'
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That is what the wicked are like, piling up wealth without any worries.
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Was it useless, then, to have kept my own heart clean, to have washed my hands in innocence?
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When I was under a hail of blows all day long, and punished every morning,
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had I said, 'I shall talk like them,' I should have betrayed your children's race.
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So I set myself to understand this: how difficult I found it!
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Until I went into the sanctuaries of the gods and understood what was destined to become of them.
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You place them on a slippery slope and drive them down into chaos.
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How sudden their hideous destruction! They are swept away, annihilated by terror!
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Like a dream upon waking, Lord, when you awake, you dismiss their image.
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My heart grew embittered, my affections dried up,
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I was stupid and uncomprehending, a clumsy animal in your presence.
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Even so, I stayed in your presence, you grasped me by the right hand;
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you will guide me with advice, and will draw me in the wake of your glory.
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Who else is there for me in heaven? And, with you, I lack nothing on earth.
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My heart and my flesh are pining away: my heart's rock, my portion, God for ever!
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Truly, those who abandon you will perish; you destroy those who adulterously desert you,
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whereas my happiness is to be near God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, to tell of all your works.
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