that though the wicked spring up like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed forever.(A)

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18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;(A)
    you cast them down to ruin.(B)
19 How suddenly(C) are they destroyed,
    completely swept away(D) by terrors!
20 They are like a dream(E) when one awakes;(F)
    when you arise, Lord,
    you will despise them as fantasies.(G)

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38 But all sinners(A) will be destroyed;(B)
    there will be no future[a] for the wicked.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 37:38 Or posterity

24 For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,

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35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
    flourishing(A) like a luxuriant native tree,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
    though I looked for him, he could not be found.(B)

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Psalm 37[a]

Of David.

Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious(A) of those who do wrong;(B)
for like the grass they will soon wither,(C)
    like green plants they will soon die away.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 37:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.(A) 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat(B) and withers(C) the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed.(D) In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

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Judgment and Covenant Renewal

[a]“Surely the day is coming;(A) it will burn like a furnace.(B) All the arrogant(C) and every evildoer will be stubble,(D) and the day that is coming will set them on fire,(E)” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch(F) will be left to them.

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Footnotes

  1. Malachi 4:1 In Hebrew texts 4:1-6 is numbered 3:19-24.

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,(A) Lord,
    when I bring a case(B) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:(C)
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(D)
    Why do all the faithless live at ease?
You have planted(E) them, and they have taken root;
    they grow and bear fruit.(F)
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.(G)

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15 But now we call the arrogant(A) blessed. Certainly evildoers(B) prosper,(C) and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

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12 This is what the wicked are like—
    always free of care,(A) they go on amassing wealth.(B)

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The tents of marauders are undisturbed,(A)
    and those who provoke God are secure(B)
    those God has in his hand.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Job 12:6 Or those whose god is in their own hand

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.(A) 20 At his gate was laid a beggar(B) named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.(C) Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham,(D) have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’(E)

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things,(F) but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.(G)

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Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?(A)
They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.(B)
Their homes are safe and free from fear;(C)
    the rod of God is not on them.(D)
10 Their bulls never fail to breed;
    their cows calve and do not miscarry.(E)
11 They send forth their children as a flock;(F)
    their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;(G)
    they make merry to the sound of the pipe.(H)

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27 Their people, drained of power,
    are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,
like grass(A) sprouting on the roof,(B)
    scorched[a] before it grows up.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields

A voice says, “Cry out.”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,(A)
    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers(B) and the flowers fall,
    because the breath(C) of the Lord blows(D) on them.
    Surely the people are grass.

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32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
    and the complacency of fools will destroy them;(A)

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15 The life of mortals is like grass,(A)
    they flourish like a flower(B) of the field;
16 the wind blows(C) over it and it is gone,
    and its place(D) remembers it no more.

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They pour out arrogant(A) words;
    all the evildoers are full of boasting.(B)

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Yet you sweep people away(A) in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.(B)

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36 When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high(A) spirits and very drunk.(B) So she told(C) him nothing at all until daybreak. 37 Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.(D) 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck(E) Nabal and he died.

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