Whom have I in the heavens? And, compared with thee, there is nothing I desire on earth.

BOOK THE THIRD Nothing but good, is God, Unto Israel, Unto the pure in heart.

Failed have my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart - and my portion, is God unto times age-abiding.

By thy counsel, wilt thou guide me, And, afterwards, unto glory, wilt thou take me.

Nevertheless, I, am continually before thee, Thou hast taken hold of my right hand;

But, as for me, the drawing near of God, is my blessedness, - I have made, of My Lord Yahweh, my refuge, - That I may recount all thy works.

For I was envious of the boasters, At the prosperity of the lawless, used I to look.

But my heart had grown embittered, And, in my reins, had I received wounds;

When I reasoned, that I might understand this, A vexation, it was in mine eyes:

Surely, in slippery places, dost thou set them, - Thou hast suffered them to fall into places of danger.

Until I could enter the holy places of God, - Could give heed to their hereafter: -

Altogether in vain, Have I cleansed my heart, And bathed in pureness, my hands;

Lo! these, are the lawless, Who are secure for an age, They have attained unto wealth.

And they say - How doth GOD know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?

If I had thought, I will relate it thus, Lo! the circle of thy sons, had I betrayed.

Their iniquity, hath proceeded from fatness, They have surpassed the imaginations of the heart;

But, I, was brutish, and could not perceive, Like the beasts, had I become before thee.

For they have no pangs in their death, And vigorous is their body;

They have set, in the heavens, their mouth, And, their tongue, marcheth through the earth.

For this cause, doth arrogance deck them as a neck-chain, And a garment of wrong is their attire;

They mock, and wickedly command oppression, From on high, they command;

For lo! they who are far from thee, shall perish, Thou hast put an end to every one who wandered unchastely from thee.

As the dream of him that waketh, O my Lord! when rousing thyself up, their shadowy being, wilt thou despise.

And yet been smitten all the day, And been rebuked morning by morning!

Of the toil of weak mortals, have they none, Nor, with the sons of earth, are they hard smitten.

Therefore must his people return thither, And, the waters of abundance, are drained by them;

How have they become desolate, as in a moment! They have ceased - come to an end, by reason of calamities.