Psalm 36

New King James Version

Man’s Wickedness and God’s Perfections

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

36 An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked:
^(A)There is no fear of God before his eyes.
²For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.
³The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
^(B)He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
⁴^(C)He devises wickedness on his bed;
He sets himself ^(D)in a way that is not good;
He does not ^[a]abhor ^(E)evil.

⁵Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
⁶Your righteousness is like the ^[b]great mountains;
^(F)Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

⁷How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men ^(G)put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
⁸^(H)They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from ^(I)the river of Your pleasures.
⁹^(J)For with You is the fountain of life;
^(K)In Your light we see light.

¹⁰Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
¹¹Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹²There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.

Footnotes

Psalm 36:4 reject, loathe
Psalm 36:6 Lit. mountains of God

Psalm 37

New King James Version

The Heritage of the Righteous and the Calamity of the Wicked

A Psalm of David.

37 Do^(A) not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
²For they shall soon be cut down ^(B)like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.

³Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴^(C)Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your ^(D)heart.

⁵^(E)Commit^[a] your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶^(F)He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

⁷Rest in the Lord, ^(G)and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who ^(H)prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
⁸^(I)Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
^(J)Do not fret—it only causes harm.

⁹For evildoers shall be ^[b]cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall ^(K)inherit the earth.
¹⁰For ^(L)yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, ^(M)you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
¹¹^(N)But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

¹²The wicked plots against the just,
^(O)And gnashes at him with his teeth.
¹³^(P)The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that ^(Q)his day is coming.
¹⁴The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
¹⁵Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶^(R)A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches 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 upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
¹⁹They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
²⁰But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But ^(S)the righteous shows mercy and gives.
²²^(T)For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be ^[c]cut off.

²³^(U)The steps of a good man are ^[d]ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
²⁴^(V)Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
²⁶^(W)He is ^[e]ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.

²⁷Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
²⁸For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
²⁹^(X)The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.

³⁰^(Y)The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
³¹The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall ^[f]slide.

³²The wicked ^(Z)watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him.
³³The Lord ^(AA)will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.

³⁴^(AB)Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
³⁵I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
³⁶Yet ^[g]he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
³⁸^(AC)But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength ^(AD)in the time of trouble.
⁴⁰And ^(AE)the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
^(AF)Because they trust in Him.

Footnotes

Psalm 37:5 Lit. Roll off onto
Psalm 37:9 destroyed
Psalm 37:22 destroyed
Psalm 37:23 established
Psalm 37:26 Lit. all the day
Psalm 37:31 slip
Psalm 37:36 So with MT, LXX, Tg.; Syr., Vg. I passed by

Acts 23:1-11

New King James Version

The Jerusalem Jews Plot to Kill Paul

23 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, ^(A)I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” ²And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him ^(B)to strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and ^(C)do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”

⁴And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”

⁵Then Paul said, ^(D)“I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ^(E)‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”

⁶But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, ^(F)I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; ^(G)concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”

⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. ⁸^(H)For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. ⁹Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, ^(I)“We find no evil in this man; ^[a]but ^(J)if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, ^(K)let us not fight against God.”

¹⁰Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.

The Plot Against Paul

¹¹But ^(L)the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ^[b]“Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in ^(M)Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at ^(N)Rome.”