Psalm 37

Revised Standard Version

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
⁶ He will bring forth your vindication as the light,
    and your right as the noonday.

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

⁸ Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
⁹ For the wicked shall be cut off;
    but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land.

¹⁰ Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
    though you look well at his place, he will not be there.
¹¹ But the meek shall possess the land,
    and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

¹² The wicked plots against the righteous,
    and gnashes his teeth at him;
¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
    for he sees that his day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows,
    to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those who walk uprightly;
¹⁵ their sword shall enter their own heart,
    and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ Better is a little that the righteous has
    than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken;
    but the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
    and their heritage will abide for ever;
¹⁹ they are not put to shame in evil times,
    in the days of famine they have abundance.

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

²¹ The wicked borrows, and cannot pay back,
    but the righteous is generous and gives;
²² for those blessed by the Lord shall possess the land,
    but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

²³ The steps of a man are from the Lord,
    and he establishes him in whose way he delights;
²⁴ though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
    for the Lord is the stay of his hand.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old;
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children begging bread.
²⁶ He is ever giving liberally and lending,
    and his children become a blessing.

²⁷ Depart from evil, and do good;
    so shall you abide for ever.
²⁸ For the Lord loves justice;
    he will not forsake his saints.

The righteous shall be preserved for ever,
    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
²⁹ The righteous shall possess the land,
    and dwell upon it for ever.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
    and his tongue speaks justice.
³¹ The law of his God is in his heart;
    his steps do not slip.

³² The wicked watches the righteous,
    and seeks to slay him.
³³ The Lord will not abandon him to his power,
    or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

³⁴ Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way,
    and he will exalt you to possess the land;
    you will look on the destruction of the wicked.

³⁵ I have seen a wicked man overbearing,
    and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.^[a]
36 Again I^[b] passed by, and lo, he was no more;
    though I sought him, he could not be found.

³⁷ Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright,
    for there is posterity for the man of peace.
³⁸ But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
    the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹ The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
    he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
⁴⁰ The Lord helps them and delivers them;
    he delivers them from the wicked, and saves them,
    because they take refuge in him.