Psalm 37:1-20

New American Standard Bible

Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.

A Psalm of David.

37 ^(A)Do not get upset because of evildoers,
Do not be ^(B)envious of wrongdoers.
²For they will ^(C)wither quickly like the grass,
And ^(D)decay like the green plants.
³^(E)Trust in the Lord and do good;
^(F)Live in the land and ^[a]^(G)cultivate faithfulness.
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,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
⁶He will bring out ^(K)your righteousness as the light,
And your judgment ^(L)as the noonday.

⁷^[b]Rest in the Lord and ^(M)wait ^[c]patiently for Him;
^(N)Do not get upset because of one who is ^(O)successful in his way,
Because of the person who carries out wicked schemes.
⁸Cease from anger and ^(P)abandon wrath;
Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing.
⁹For ^(Q)evildoers will be eliminated,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will ^(R)inherit the land.
¹⁰Yet ^(S)a little while and the wicked person will be no more;
And you will look carefully for ^(T)his place and he will not be there.
¹¹But ^(U)the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in ^(V)abundant prosperity.

¹²The wicked ^(W)plots against the righteous,
And ^(X)gnashes at him with his teeth.
¹³The Lord ^(Y)laughs at him,
For He sees that ^(Z)his day is coming.
¹⁴The wicked have drawn the sword and ^(AA)bent their bow
To take down the ^(AB)afflicted and the needy,
To ^(AC)kill off those who are upright in conduct.
¹⁵Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their ^(AD)bows will be broken.

¹⁶^(AE)Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷For the ^(AF)arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord ^(AG)sustains the righteous.
¹⁸The Lord ^(AH)knows the days of the ^[d]blameless,
And their ^(AI)inheritance will be forever.
¹⁹They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And ^(AJ)in the days of famine they will have plenty.
²⁰But the ^(AK)wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the ^[e]glory of the pastures,
They vanish—^(AL)like smoke they vanish away.