Psalm 37:1-24

English Standard Version

^3 (F)Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    ^(G)dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.^[b]
4 (H)Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will ^(I)give you the desires of your heart.

^5 (J)Commit your way to the Lord;
    ^(K)trust in him, and he will act.
^6 (L)He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as ^(M)the noonday.

^7 (N)Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
    ^(O)fret not yourself over the one who ^(P)prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!

^8 (Q)Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    ^(R)Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
^9 (S)For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall ^(T)inherit the land.

¹⁰ In ^(U)just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
    though you look carefully at ^(V)his place, he will not be there.
¹¹ But ^(W)the meek shall inherit the land
    and delight themselves in ^(X)abundant peace.

¹² The wicked ^(Y)plots against the righteous
    and ^(Z)gnashes his teeth at him,
¹³ but the Lord ^(AA)laughs at the wicked,
    for he sees that his ^(AB)day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword and ^(AC)bend their bows
    to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those whose ^(AD)way is upright;
¹⁵ their sword shall enter their own heart,
    and their ^(AE)bows shall be broken.

^16 (AF)Better is the little that the righteous has
    than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷ For ^(AG)the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
    but the Lord ^(AH)upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord ^(AI)knows the days of the blameless,
    and their ^(AJ)heritage will remain forever;
¹⁹ they are not put to shame in evil times;
    in ^(AK)the days of famine they have abundance.

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

²¹ The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
    but the righteous ^(AN)is generous and gives;
²² for those blessed by the Lord^[c] shall ^(AO)inherit the land,
    but those cursed by him ^(AP)shall be cut off.

²³ The ^(AQ)steps of a man are ^(AR)established by the Lord,
    when he delights in his way;
^24 (AS)though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
    for the Lord ^(AT)upholds his hand.