1  Truly God is good to Israel,

to those who are ^zpure in heart.

2  But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

my steps had nearly ^aslipped.

3  ^bFor I was ^cenvious of the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4  For they have no pangs until death;

their bodies are fat and sleek.

5  They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

6  Therefore pride is their necklace;

violence covers them ^das a garment.

7  Their eyes swell out through ^efatness;

their hearts overflow with follies.

8  They scoff and speak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.

9  They set their mouths against the heavens,

and their tongue struts through the earth.

10  Therefore his people turn back to them,

and find no fault in them.¹

11  And they say, ^f“How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

12  Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they increase in riches.

13  All in vain have I kept my heart clean

and washed my hands ^gin innocence.

14  For all the day long I have been stricken

and rebuked every morning.

15  If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

16  But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,

17  until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their end.

18  Truly you set them in slippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.

19  How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors!

20  ^hLike a dream when one ⁱawakes,

O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

21  When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

22  I was brutish and ignorant;

I was ^jlike a beast toward you.

23  Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

you hold my right hand.

24  You guide me with your ^kcounsel,

and afterward you will ^lreceive me to 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 strength² of my heart and ^mmy portion forever.

27  For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;

you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

28  But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

that I may ⁿtell of all your works.

1  ^xFret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not ^yenvious of wrongdoers!

2  For they will soon fade ^zlike the grass

and wither like the green herb.

3  ^aTrust in the Lord, and ^bdo good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.²

4  ^cDelight yourself in the Lord,

and he will ^dgive you the desires of your heart.

5  ^eCommit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

6  He will bring forth your righteousness ^fas the light,

and your justice as the ^gnoonday.

7  ^hBe still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

8  ⁱRefrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

9  For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

10  In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

^jthough you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

11  But ^kthe meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in abundant peace.

12  The wicked plots against the righteous

and gnashes his teeth at him,

13  but the Lord ^llaughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his day is coming.

14  The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose way is upright;

15  their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.

16  ^mBetter is the little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

17  For the arms of the wicked shall be ⁿbroken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18  The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will remain forever;

19  they are not put to shame in evil times;

^oin the days of famine they have abundance.

20  But the wicked will perish;

the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;

they vanish—like ^psmoke they vanish away.

21  The wicked borrows but does not pay back,

but the righteous is generous and gives;

22  for those blessed by the Lord³ shall inherit the land,

but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23  ^qThe steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he ^rdelights in his way;

24  ^sthough he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord upholds his hand.

25  I have been young, and now am old,

yet ^tI have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging for bread.

26  He is ever ^ulending generously,

and his children become a blessing.

27  ^vTurn away from evil and do good;

so shall you dwell forever.

28  For the Lord loves justice;

he will not forsake his saints.

They are preserved forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29  The righteous shall inherit the land

and dwell upon it forever.

30  ^wThe mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

31  The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not ^xslip.

32  The wicked watches for the righteous

and seeks to put him to death.

33  The Lord will not abandon him to his power

or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

34  Wait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

^yyou will look on when the wicked are cut off.

35  ^zI have seen a wicked, ruthless man,

spreading himself like a green laurel tree.⁴

36  ^aBut he passed away,⁵ and behold, he was no more;

though I sought him, he could not be found.

37  Mark the blameless and behold the upright,

for there is a future for the man of peace.

38  But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39  The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

40  The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.