Psalms37

¹Of David . Fret not yourself because of evildoers ; be not envious of wrongdoers !

²For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb .

³Trust in the Lord, and do good ; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness .

⁴Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart .

⁵Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act .

⁶He will bring forth your righteousness as the light , and your justice as the noonday .

⁷Be 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 !

⁸Refrain from anger , and forsake wrath ! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil .

⁹For the evildoers shall be cut off , but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land .

¹⁰In just a little while , the wicked will be no more ; though you look carefully at his place , he will not be there.

¹¹But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace .

¹²The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him,

¹³but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming .

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy , to slay those whose way is upright ;

¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart , and their bows shall be broken .

¹⁶Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked .

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked shall be broken , but the Lord upholds the righteous .

¹⁸The Lord knows the days of the blameless , and their heritage will remain forever ;

¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times ; in the days of famine they have abundance .

²⁰But the wicked will perish ; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures ; they vanish —like smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives ;

²²for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land , but those cursed by him shall be cut off .

²³The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way ;

²⁴though he fall , he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand .

²⁵I have been young , and now am old , yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread .

²⁶He is ever lending generously , and his children become a blessing .

²⁷Turn away from evil and do good ; so shall you dwell forever .

²⁸For the Lord loves justice ; he will not forsake his saints . They are preserved forever , but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever .

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom , and his tongue speaks justice .

³¹The law of his God is in his heart ; his steps do not slip .

³²The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death .

³³The Lord will not abandon him to his power or be condemned when he is brought to trial .

³⁴Wait for the Lord and keep his way , and he will exalt you to inherit the land ; you will look on when the wicked are cut off .

³⁵I have seen a wicked , ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree.

³⁶But he passed away, and behold , he was no more ; though I sought him, he could not be found .

³⁷Mark the blameless and behold the upright , for there is a future for the man of peace .

³⁸But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed ; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble .

⁴⁰The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.