37 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

³ Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

⁴ Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

⁵ Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

⁶ And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

⁷ Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

⁸ Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently look for his place, and it shall not be.

¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

¹² The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

¹³ The Lord shall laugh at him, for He seeth that his day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked have drawn out the sword and have bent their bows to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright manner of living.

¹⁵ Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

¹⁹ They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

²⁰ But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall be consumed; into smoke shall they be consumed away.

²¹ The wicked borroweth and payeth not back, but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth:

²² for such as are blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, but they that are cursed by Him shall be cut off.

²³ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in his way.

²⁴ Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread.

²⁶ He is ever merciful and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

²⁷ Depart from evil and do good, and dwell for evermore.

²⁸ For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints; they are preserved for ever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹ The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.

³¹ The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

³² The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

³³ But the Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

³⁴ Wait on the Lord and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

³⁵ I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

³⁶ Yet he passed away, and lo, he was no more; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

³⁷ Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.

³⁸ But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the end of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹ But the salvation of the righteous is in the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰ And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them, because they trust in Him.

38 O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath, neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure!

² For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sorely.

³ There is no soundness in my flesh, because of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones, because of my sin.

⁴ For mine iniquities have gone over mine head; as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

⁵ My wounds are foul and corrupt because of my foolishness.

⁶ I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

⁷ For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh.

⁸ I am feeble and sorely broken; I have groaned because of the disquiet of my heart.

⁹ Lord, all my desires are known to Thee; and my groaning is not hidden from Thee.

¹⁰ My heart panteth, my strength faileth me; as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.

¹¹ My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off.

¹² They also that seek after my life lay snares for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and devise deceits all the day long.

¹³ But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.

¹⁴ Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.

¹⁵ For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope; Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.

¹⁶ For I said, “Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me; when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.”

¹⁷ For I am ready for halting, and my sorrow is continually before me.

¹⁸ For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.

¹⁹ But mine enemies are alive and they are strong; and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

²⁰ They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries, because I follow the thing that is good.

²¹ Forsake me not, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me!

²² Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

39 I said, “I will take heed of my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”

² I was dumb with silence; I held my peace, even from good, and my sorrow was stirred.

³ My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ “Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is, that I may know how frail I am.

⁵ Behold, Thou hast made my days as a handbreadth, and mine age is as nothing before Thee; verily every man in his best state is altogether vanity. Selah

⁶ “Surely every man walketh in a vain show; surely they are disquieted in vain; he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

⁷ “And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in Thee.

⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the foolish.

⁹ I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it.

¹⁰ Remove Thy stroke away from me; I am consumed by the blow of Thine hand.

¹¹ When with rebukes Thou dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to be consumed away like a moth; surely every man is vanity. Selah

¹² “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not Thy peace at my tears; for I am a stranger with Thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

¹³ O spare me, that I may recover strength before I go hence and am no more.”

26 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, “Thou art permitted to speak for thyself.” Then Paul stretched forth his hand and answered for himself:

² “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee concerning all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews,

³ especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.

⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, which was from the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, is known to all the Jews.

⁵ They knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.

⁶ And now I stand and am judged because of the hope of the promise made by God unto our fathers,

⁷ unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God day and night, hope to come. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.

⁸ Why should it be thought an incredible thing by you that God should raise the dead?

⁹ “I myself verily thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,

¹⁰ which things I also did in Jerusalem; and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.

¹¹ And I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly maddened against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.

¹² “Thereupon, as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

¹³ at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, brighter than the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me.

¹⁴ And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

¹⁶ But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose: to make thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto thee,

¹⁷ delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee,

¹⁸ to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith that is in Me.’

¹⁹ “Thereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision,

²⁰ but showed first unto those at Damascus and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

²¹ For these causes the Jews seized me in the temple and went about to kill me.

²² Having therefore obtained the help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said should come:

²³ that Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first who should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ And as he thus spoke for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, thou art beside thyself! Much learning doth make thee mad!”

²⁵ But Paul said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.

²⁶ For the king himself knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him, for this thing was not done in a corner.

²⁷ King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.”

²⁸ Then Agrippa said unto Paul, “Thou almost persuadest me to be a Christian.”

²⁹ And Paul said, “I would to God that not only thou, but also all who hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these bonds.”

³⁰ And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and also the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them.

³¹ And when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.”

³² Then said Agrippa unto Festus, “This man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Caesar.”