³ Trust in the Lord and do good.
    Dwell in the land and feed on faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord;
    Trust him, and he will act.
⁶ He will bring forth your righteousness as a light,
    and your justice as the noonday sun.^[b]

⁷ Be silent in the Lord’s presence
    and wait patiently for him.
Don’t be angry because of the one whose way prospers
    or the one who implements evil schemes.
⁸ Calm your anger and abandon wrath.
    Don’t be angry—
        it only leads to evil.
⁹ Those who do evil will perish.
    But those who wait^[c] on the Lord will inherit the land.

¹⁰ Yet a little while longer,
    and the wicked will be no more.
You will search for his place,
    but he will not be there.
¹¹ The humble will inherit the land;
    they will take in abundant peace.
¹² The wicked person plots against the righteous,
    and grinds his teeth at him.
¹³ But the Lord laughs at him
    because he sees that his day is coming!

¹⁴ The wicked take out a sword and bend the bow,
    to bring down the humble and the poor
        to slay those who are righteous in conduct.
¹⁵ But their sword will pierce their own heart,
    and their bows will be broken!

¹⁶ Better is the little that the righteous have
    than the abundance of many wicked people.
¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
    but the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord knows the day of the blameless,
    and their inheritance will last forever.
¹⁹ They will not experience shame in times of trouble;
    in times of famine they will have plenty.

²⁰ Indeed, the wicked will perish.
    The Lord’s enemies will be consumed like flowers^[d] in the fields.
        They will vanish like^[e] smoke.
²¹ The wicked borrow but never pay back;
    but the righteous are generous and give.
²² For those blessed by God^[f] will inherit the land,
    but those cursed by him will be cut off.

²³ A man’s steps are established by the Lord,
    and the Lord^[g] delights in his way.
²⁴ Though he stumbles,
    he will not fall down flat,
        for the Lord will hold up his hand.

²⁵ I once was young and now I am old,
    but I have not seen a righteous person forsaken
        or his descendants begging for bread.
²⁶ Every day he is generous, lending freely,
    and his descendants are blessed.

²⁷ Depart from evil, and do good,
    and you will live in the land^[h] forever.
²⁸ Indeed, the Lord loves justice,
    and he will not abandon his godly ones.
They are kept safe forever,
    but the lawless will be chased away,^[i]
        and the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

²⁹ The righteous will inherit the land,
    and they will dwell in it forever.
³⁰ The mouth of the righteous one produces wisdom;
    his tongue speaks justice.
³¹ The instruction^[j] of his God is in his heart;
    his steps will not slip.

³² The wicked stalks the righteous person, seeking to kill him,
³³ but the Lord will not let him fall into his hands.
        He will not be condemned when he is put on trial.
³⁴ Wait on the Lord,
    Keep faithful to his way,
        and he will exalt you to possess the land.
You will see the wicked cut off.

³⁵ I once observed a wicked and oppressive person,
    flourishing like a green tree in native soil.
³⁶ But then he^[k] passed away;^[l]
    in fact, he simply was not there.
When I looked for him,
    he could not be found.

³⁷ Observe the blameless!
    Take note of the upright!
        Indeed, the future of that man is peace.
³⁸ Sinners will be destroyed together;
    the future of the wicked will be cut off.
³⁹ But deliverance for the righteous one comes from the Lord;
    he is their strength in times of distress.
⁴⁰ The Lord helps and delivers them;
    he will deliver them from the wicked,
        and he will save them because they have sought refuge in him.