Truly God is good to Israel,
even to such as are of a clean heart.

² But as for me,
my feet were almost gone;
my steps had well nigh slipped.
³ For I was envious at the foolish,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
⁴ For there are no bands in their death:
but their strength is firm.
⁵ They are not in trouble as other men;
neither are they plagued like other men.
⁶ Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain;
violence coverth them as a garment.
⁷ Their eyes stand out with fatness:
they have more than heart could wish.
⁸ They are corrupt,
and speak wickedly concerning oppression:
they speak loftily.
⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens,
and their tongue walketh through the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore his people return hither:
and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
¹¹ And they say, How doth God know?
and is there knowledge in the most High?
¹² Behold, these are the ungodly,
who prosper in the world;
they increase in riches.

¹³ Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain,
and washed my hands in innocency.
¹⁴ For all the day long have I been plagued,
and chastened every morning.
¹⁵ If I say, I will speak thus;
behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

¹⁶ When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me [in my eyes];
¹⁷ Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then understood I their end.
¹⁸ Surely thou didst set them in slippery places:
thou castedst them down into destruction.
¹⁹ How are they bought into desolation,
as in a moment!
they are utterly consumed [they are terminated, they are destroyed]
with terrors.
²⁰ As a dream when one awaketh;
so, O Lord, when thou awakest,
thou shalt despise their image.

²¹ Thus my heart was grieved,
and I was pricked in my reins.
²² So foolish was I,
and ignorant [and not I am Knowing]:
I was as a beast before thee.
²³ Nevertheless I am continually with thee:
thou hast holden me by my right hand.
²⁴ Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel,
and afterward receive me to glory.
²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but thee?
and there is none upon earth that I desire beside 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 are far from thee shall perish:
thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
²⁸ But it is good for me to draw near to God:
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
that I may declare all thy works.

* NOTE: On Opening and Closing Comments in the Psalms.
[Some commentators take the Psalm in Habakkuk 3 to be a standard model for the Psalms.
Habakkuk's Psalm begins with the name of the composer (Habakkuk) and a musical notation ("upon Shigionoth").
It closes with a dedication or a "send to" notice ("To the chief singer on my stringed instruments").
I have arranged similar material, where it is found in the Psalter, in accord with the model in Habakkuk.]