The Fate of the Wicked

731 Only—good to Israel 'is' God, to the clean of heart. And I—as a little thing, My feet have been turned aside, 2 As nothing, have my steps slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful, 3 The peace of the wicked I see, That there are no bands at their death, 4 And their might 'is' firm. 5 In the misery of mortals they are not, And with common men they are not plagued. 6 Therefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress. 7 Their eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed; 8 They do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, From on high they speak. 9 They have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth. 10 Therefore do His people return hither, And waters of fulness are wrung out to them. 11 And they have said, 'How hath God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?' 12 Lo, these 'are' the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength. 13 Only—a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash in innocency my hands, 14 And I am plagued all the day, And my reproof 'is' every morning.

15 If I have said, 'I recount thus,' Lo, a generation of Thy sons I have deceived. 16 And I think to know this, Perverseness it 'is' in mine eyes, 17 Till I come in to the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter end. 18 Only, in slippery places Thou dost set them, Thou hast caused them to fall to desolations. 19 How have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended—consumed from terrors. 20 As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.

21 For my heart doth show itself violent, And my reins prick themselves, 22 And I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee. 23 And I 'am' continually with Thee, Thou hast laid hold on my right hand. 24 With Thy counsel Thou dost lead me, And after honour dost receive me. 25 Whom have I in the heavens? And with Thee none I have desired in earth. 26 Consumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion 'is' God to the age. 27 For, lo, those far from Thee do perish, Thou hast cut off every one, Who is going a whoring from Thee. 28 And I—nearness of God to me 'is' good, I have placed in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, To recount all Thy works!

Comfort from Recalling God's Mighty Deeds

771 My voice 'is' to God, and I cry, my voice 'is' to God, And He hath given ear unto me. 2 In a day of my distress the Lord I sought, My hand by night hath been spread out, And it doth not cease, My soul hath refused to be comforted. 3 I remember God, and make a noise, I meditate, and feeble is my spirit. Selah. 4 Thou hast taken hold of the watches of mine eyes, I have been moved, and I speak not. 5 I have reckoned the days of old, The years of the ages. 6 I remember my music in the night, With my heart I meditate, and my spirit doth search diligently: 7 To the ages doth the Lord cast off? Doth He add to be pleased no more? 8 Hath His kindness ceased for ever? The saying failed to all generations? 9 Hath God forgotten 'His' favours? Hath He shut up in anger His mercies? Selah. 10 And I say: 'My weakness is, The changes of the right hand of the Most High.'

11 I mention the doings of Jah, For I remember of old Thy wonders, 12 And I have meditated on all Thy working, And I talk concerning Thy doings. 13 O God, in holiness 'is' Thy way, Who 'is' a great god like God? 14 Thou 'art' the God doing wonders. Thou hast made known among the peoples Thy strength, 15 Thou hast redeemed with strength Thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. 16 The waters have seen Thee, O God, The waters have seen Thee, They are afraid—also depths are troubled. 17 Poured out waters have thick clouds, The skies have given forth a noise, Also—Thine arrows go up and down. 18 The voice of Thy thunder 'is' in the spheres, Lightnings have lightened the world, The earth hath trembled, yea, it shaketh. 19 In the sea 'is' Thy way, And Thy paths 'are' in many waters, And Thy tracks have not been known. 20 Thou hast led as a flock Thy people, By the hand of Moses and Aaron!

God's Faithfulness to His Unfaithful People

781 An Instruction of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law, Incline your ear to sayings of my mouth. 2 I open with a simile my mouth, I bring forth hidden things of old, 3 That we have heard and do know, And our fathers have recounted to us. 4 We do not hide from their sons, To a later generation recounting praises of Jehovah, And His strength, and His wonders that He hath done. 5 And He raiseth up a testimony in Jacob, And a law hath placed in Israel, That He commanded our fathers, To make them known to their sons. 6 So that a later generation doth know, Sons who are born, do rise and recount to their sons, 7 And place in God their confidence, And forget not the doings of God, But keep His commands. 8 And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God 'is' its spirit.

9 Sons of Ephraim—armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict. 10 They have not kept the covenant of God, And in His law they have refused to walk, 11 And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He shewed them. 12 Before their fathers He hath done wonders, In the land of Egypt—the field of Zoan. 13 He cleft a sea, and causeth them to pass over, Yea, He causeth waters to stand as a heap. 14 And leadeth them with a cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire. 15 He cleaveth rocks in a wilderness, And giveth drink—as the great deep. 16 And bringeth out streams from a rock, And causeth waters to come down as rivers. 17 And they add still to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place. 18 And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust. 19 And they speak against God—they said: 'Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?' 20 Lo, He hath smitten a rock, And waters flow, yea, streams overflow. 'Also—bread 'is' He able to give? Doth He prepare flesh for His people?' 21 Therefore hath Jehovah heard, And He sheweth Himself wroth, And fire hath been kindled against Jacob, And anger also hath gone up against Israel, 22 For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation. 23 And He commandeth clouds from above, Yea, doors of the heavens He hath opened. 24 And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them. 25 Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety. 26 He causeth an east wind to journey in the heavens, And leadeth by His strength a south wind, 27 And He raineth on them flesh as dust, And as sand of the seas—winged fowl, 28 And causeth 'it' to fall in the midst of His camp, Round about His tabernacles. 29 And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And their desire He bringeth to them. 30 They have not been estranged from their desire, Yet 'is' their food in their mouth, 31 And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend. 32 With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders. 33 And He consumeth in vanity their days, And their years in trouble. 34 If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and sought God earnestly, 35 And they remember that God 'is' their rock, And God Most High their redeemer. 36 And—they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him, 37 And their heart hath not been right with Him, And they have not been stedfast in His covenant. 38 And He—the Merciful One, Pardoneth iniquity, and destroyeth not, And hath often turned back His anger, And waketh not up all His fury. 39 And He remembereth that they 'are' flesh, A wind going on—and it returneth not.

40 How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place? 41 Yea, they turn back, and try God, And the Holy One of Israel have limited. 42 They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary. 43 When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan, 44 And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not. 45 He sendeth among them the beetle, and it consumeth them, And the frog, and it destroyeth them, 46 And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust. 47 He destroyeth with hail their vine, And their sycamores with frost, 48 And delivereth up to the hail their beasts, And their cattle to the burning flames. 49 He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress—A discharge of evil messengers. 50 He pondereth a path for His anger, He kept not back their soul from death, Yea, their life to the pestilence He delivered up. 51 And He smiteth every first-born in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham. 52 And causeth His people to journey as a flock, And guideth them as a drove in a wilderness, 53 And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered. 54 And He bringeth them in unto the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had got, 55 And casteth out nations from before them, And causeth them to fall in the line of inheritance, And causeth the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents, 56 And they tempt and provoke God Most High, And His testimonies have not kept. 57 And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow, 58 And make Him angry with their high places, And with their graven images make Him zealous, 59 God hath heard, and sheweth Himself wroth. And kicketh exceedingly against Israel. 60 And He leaveth the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men, 61 And He giveth His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of an adversary, 62 And delivereth up to the sword His people, And with His inheritance shewed Himself angry. 63 His young men hath fire consumed, And His virgins have not been praised. 64 His priests by the sword have fallen, And their widows weep not. 65 And the Lord waketh as a sleeper, As a mighty one crying aloud from wine. 66 And He smiteth His adversaries backward, A reproach age-during He hath put on them, 67 And He kicketh against the tent of Joseph, And on the tribe of Ephraim hath not fixed. 68 And He chooseth the tribe of Judah, With mount Zion that He loved, 69 And buildeth His sanctuary as a high place, Like the earth, He founded it to the age. 70 And He fixeth on David His servant, And taketh him from the folds of a flock, 71 From behind suckling ones He hath brought him in, To rule over Jacob His people, And over Israel His inheritance. 72 And he ruleth them according to the integrity of his heart, And by the skilfulness of his hands leadeth them!