Psalms · Literal Standard Version
Psalm 73 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
1 A PSALM OF ASAPH. Surely God [is] good to Israel, to the clean of heart. And I—as a little thing, || My feet have been turned aside,
1 A Psalm by Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 As nothing, my steps have slipped, || For I have been envious of the boastful,
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped.
3 I see the peace of the wicked, || That there are no bands at their death,
3 For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 And their might [is] firm.
4 For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.
5 They are not in the misery of mortals, || And they are not plagued with common men.
5 They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride has encircled them, || Violence covers them as a dress.
6 Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eye has come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;
7 Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
8 They do corruptly, || And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, || They speak from on high.
8 They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
9 They have set their mouth in the heavens, || And their tongue walks in the earth.
9 They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore His people return here, || And waters of fullness are wrung out to them.
10 Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.
11 And they have said, “How has God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
11 They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these [are] the wicked and easy ones of the age, || They have increased strength.
12 Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 Only—a vain thing! I have purified my heart, || And I wash my hands in innocence,
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,
14 And I am plagued all the day, || And my reproof—every morning.
14 For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.
15 If I have said, “I recount thus,” || Behold, I have deceived a generation of Your sons.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus”, behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 And I think to know this, || It [is] perverseness in my eyes,
16 When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me—
17 Until I come into the sanctuaries of God, || I attend to their latter end.
17 until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places, || You have caused them to fall to desolations.
18 Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
19 How they have become a desolation as in a moment, || They have been ended—consumed from terrors.
19 How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
20 As a dream from awakening, O Lord, || In awaking, You despise their image.
20 As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
21 For my heart shows itself violent, || And my reins prick themselves,
21 For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart.
22 And I am brutish, and do not know. I have been a beast with You.
22 I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.
23 And I [am] continually with You, || You have laid hold on my right hand.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.
24 You lead me with Your counsel, || And after, receive me [to] glory.
24 You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom do I have in the heavens? And none have I desired in earth [besides] You.
25 Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart have been consumed, || God [is] the rock of my heart and my portion for all time.
26 My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those far from You perish, || You have cut off everyone, || Who is going whoring from You.
27 For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.
28 And [the] nearness of God to me [is] good, || I have placed my refuge in Lord YHWH, || To recount all Your works!
28 But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Cross references (28)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Matthew 5:8; Psalm 51:10; Psalm 84:11; Luke 12:32; James 4:8
- 2 Psalm 94:18; 1 Samuel 2:9; Psalm 116:8; Psalm 38:16; Psalm 17:5
- 3 Job 21:7; Jeremiah 12:1; Psalm 37:7; Proverbs 23:17; Psalm 37:1
- 4 Job 21:23–24; Ecclesiastes 2:16; Luke 16:22; Ecclesiastes 7:15; Psalm 17:14
- 5 Psalm 73:12; Job 21:9; Revelation 3:19; Jeremiah 12:1–2; Job 21:6
- 6 Psalm 109:18; 1 Peter 5:5; Daniel 4:30; Proverbs 1:9; Judges 8:26
- 7 Job 15:27; Jeremiah 5:28; Psalm 17:10; Psalm 73:12; 1 Samuel 25:36
- 8 Jude 16; Psalm 17:10; Psalm 10:2; 2 Peter 2:18; Proverbs 30:13–14
- 9 Revelation 13:6; James 3:6; Exodus 5:2; Daniel 7:25; 2 Chronicles 32:15
- 10 Psalm 75:8
- 11 Hosea 7:2; Zephaniah 1:12; Psalm 94:7; Psalm 139:1–6; Psalm 44:21
- 12 Psalm 52:7; Hosea 12:7–8; Jeremiah 5:28; James 5:1–3; Psalm 17:14
- 13 Psalm 26:6; Job 21:15; Job 34:9; James 4:8; Malachi 3:14
- 14 Hebrews 12:5; Psalm 94:12; Amos 3:2; Jeremiah 15:18; Job 7:3–4
- 15 Matthew 18:6–7; Romans 14:21; Psalm 24:6; Romans 14:15; Malachi 2:8
- 16 Ecclesiastes 8:17; John 16:18–19; Proverbs 30:2–3; Romans 11:33; Psalm 97:2
- 17 Psalm 77:13; Luke 12:20; Ecclesiastes 8:12–13; Psalm 27:4; Psalm 63:2
- 18 Jeremiah 23:12; Psalm 35:6; Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalm 55:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:9
- 19 Isaiah 47:11; Proverbs 28:1; Daniel 5:6; Revelation 18:10; Job 20:5
- 20 Job 20:8; Psalm 78:65; Psalm 90:5; Psalm 39:6; Isaiah 29:7–8
- 21 Psalm 73:3; Psalm 37:7; Lamentations 3:13; Job 16:13; Psalm 37:1
- 22 Ecclesiastes 3:18; Psalm 92:6; Isaiah 1:3; Psalm 49:10; Psalm 32:9
- 23 Isaiah 41:13; Psalm 63:8; Matthew 28:20; Psalm 16:8; Hebrews 13:5
- 24 Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 58:11; Proverbs 3:5–6; Isaiah 48:17; Psalm 48:14
- 25 Philippians 3:8; Psalm 16:2; Psalm 63:3; Psalm 16:5; Isaiah 26:8–9
- 26 2 Corinthians 12:9–10; Isaiah 40:29–31; Psalm 138:3; Psalm 18:2; 2 Corinthians 4:8–10
- 27 James 4:4; Psalm 119:155; Exodus 34:15; Numbers 15:39; Psalm 106:39
- 28 James 4:8; Psalm 40:5; Hebrews 10:19–22; Lamentations 3:25–26; Psalm 65:4
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
indeed this Psalm's title is fore-noted: but things are spoken of therein which could not apply to that Salomon king of Israel after the flesh, according to those things which holy Scripture speaketh concerning him: but they can most pertinently apply to the Lord Christ.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
But whither ascend ye, when ye are on high, and set your mouth against the heavens? Descend that ye may ascend, and ascend to God.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
… and since works of mercy have no other object than the relief of distress or the conferring of happiness, and since there is no happiness apart from that good of which it is said, "It is good for me to be very near to God," it follows that the whole redeemed city, that is to say, the congregation or community …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto them." And that not only of men, but primarily and principally of angels it is true, as it is written, "It is good to draw near to God." And those who have this good in common, have, both with Him to whom they …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)