Psalm 37

English Standard Version

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

^[a] Of David.

37 ^(A)Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not ^(B)envious of wrongdoers!
²For they will soon ^(C)fade like ^(D)the grass
and wither ^(E)like the green herb.

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.

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

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

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and ^(AC)bend their bows
    to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those whose ^(AD)way is upright;
¹⁵their 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.
¹⁷For ^(AG)the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord ^(AH)upholds the righteous.

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

²⁰But 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.

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

²³The ^(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.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children ^(AU)begging for bread.
²⁶He is ever ^(AV)lending generously,
    and his children become a blessing.

²⁷^(AW)Turn away from evil and do good;
    so shall you ^(AX)dwell forever.
²⁸For the Lord ^(AY)loves justice;
    he will not forsake his ^(AZ)saints.
They are preserved forever,
    but the children of the wicked shall be ^(BA)cut off.
²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land
    and ^(BB)dwell upon it forever.

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

³²The wicked ^(BE)watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
³³The Lord will not ^(BF)abandon him to his power
or let him ^(BG)be condemned when he is brought to trial.

³⁴^(BH)Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on ^(BI)when the wicked are cut off.

³⁵^(BJ)I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like ^(BK)a green laurel tree.^[d]
³⁶But he passed away,^[e] and behold, ^(BL)he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of ^(BM)peace.
³⁸But ^(BN)transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked ^(BO)shall be cut off.

³⁹^(BP)The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
    he is their stronghold in ^(BQ)the time of trouble.
⁴⁰The Lord helps them and ^(BR)delivers them;
    ^(BS)he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
    because they ^(BT)take refuge in him.

Footnotes

Psalm 37:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Psalm 37:3 Or and feed on faithfulness, or and find safe pasture
Psalm 37:22 Hebrew by him
Psalm 37:35 The identity of this tree is uncertain
Psalm 37:36 Or But one passed by

1 Samuel 6:1-15

English Standard Version

The Ark Returned to Israel

6 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. ²And the Philistines called for the priests and ^(A)the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” ³They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^(B)a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^(C)his hand does not turn away from you.” ⁴And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden ^(D)tumors and five golden mice, ^(E)according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. ⁵So you must make images of your ^(F)tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, ^(G)and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps ^(H)he will lighten his hand from off you ^(I)and your gods and your land. ⁶Why should you harden your hearts as ^(J)the Egyptians and ^(K)Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, ^(L)did they not send the people away, and they departed? ⁷Now then, take and prepare ^(M)a new cart and two milk cows ^(N)on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. ⁸And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side ^(O)the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as ^(P)a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way ⁹and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to ^(Q)Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not ^(R)his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

¹⁰The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. ¹¹And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. ¹²And the cows went straight in the direction of ^(S)Beth-shemesh along ^(T)one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of ^(U)Beth-shemesh. ¹³Now the people of ^(V)Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. ¹⁴The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. ^(W)A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon ^(X)the great stone. And the men of ^(Y)Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord.

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1 Corinthians 14:20-40

English Standard Version

²⁰Brothers, ^(A)do not be children in your thinking. ^(B)Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be ^(C)mature. ²¹^(D)In the Law it is written, ^(E)“By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” ²²Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign^[a] not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, ^(F)will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ²⁵^(G)the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, ^(H)falling on his face, he will worship God and ^(I)declare that God is really among you.

Orderly Worship

²⁶What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has ^(J)a hymn, ^(K)a lesson, ^(L)a revelation, ^(M)a tongue, or ^(N)an interpretation. ^(O)Let all things be done for building up. ²⁷If any speak in ^(P)a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. ²⁸But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others ^(Q)weigh what is said. ³⁰If a revelation is made to another sitting there, ^(R)let the first be silent. ³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³²and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³For God is not a God of ^(S)confusion but of peace.

As in ^(T)all the churches of the saints, ³⁴^(U)the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but ^(V)should be in submission, as ^(W)the Law also says. ³⁵If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ³⁷^(X)If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. ³⁹So, my brothers, ^(Y)earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰^(Z)But all things should be done decently and ^(AA)in order.