Book of Common Prayer

37 ⁽⁰⁾ By David:

⁽¹⁾ Don’t be upset by evildoers
or envious of those who do wrong,
² for soon they will wither like grass
and fade like the green in the fields.
³ Trust in Adonai, and do good;
settle in the land, and feed on faithfulness.
⁴ Then you will delight yourself in Adonai,
and he will give you your heart’s desire.

⁵ Commit your way to Adonai;
trust in him, and he will act.
⁶ He will make your vindication shine forth like light,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still before Adonai;
wait patiently till he comes.
Don’t be upset by those whose way
succeeds because of their wicked plans.
⁸ Stop being angry, put aside rage,
and don’t be upset — it leads to evil.

⁹ For evildoers will be cut off,
but those hoping in Adonai will inherit the land.
¹⁰ Soon the wicked will be no more;
you will look for his place, and he won’t be there.
¹¹ But the meek will inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.

¹² The wicked plots against the righteous
and grinds his teeth at him;
¹³ but Adonai laughs at the wicked,
knowing his day will come.
¹⁴ The wicked have unsheathed their swords,
they have strung their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slaughter those whose way is upright.
¹⁵ But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶ Better the little that the righteous has
than the wealth of all the wicked.
¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
but Adonai upholds the righteous.
¹⁸ Adonai knows what the wholehearted suffer,
but their inheritance lasts forever.
¹⁹ They will not be distressed when times are hard;
when famine comes, they will have plenty.

²⁰ For the wicked will perish;
Adonai’s enemies will be like sheep fat,
ending up as smoke, finished.
²¹ The wicked borrows and doesn’t repay,
but the righteous is generous and gives.
²² For those blessed by [Adonai] will inherit the land,
but those cursed by him will be cut off.

²³ Adonai directs a person’s steps,
and he delights in his way.
²⁴ He may stumble, but he won’t fall headlong,
for Adonai holds him by the hand.

²⁵ I have been young; now I am old;
yet not once have I seen the righteous abandoned
or his descendants begging for bread.
²⁶ All day long he is generous and lends,
and his descendants are blessed.

²⁷ If you turn from evil and do good,
you will live safely forever.
²⁸ For Adonai loves justice
and will not abandon his faithful;
they are preserved forever.
But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

²⁹ The righteous will inherit the land
and live in it forever.
³⁰ The mouth of the righteous articulates wisdom,
his tongue speaks justice.
³¹ The Torah of his God is in his heart;
his footsteps do not falter.

³² The wicked keeps his eye on the righteous,
seeking a chance to kill him.
³³ But Adonai will not leave him in his power
or let him be condemned when judged.
³⁴ Put your hope in Adonai, keep to his way,
and he will raise you up to inherit the land.

When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
³⁵ I have seen a wicked man wielding great power,
flourishing like a shade tree in its native soil.
³⁶ But I passed by again, and he was no longer there;
I looked for him, but he could not be found.

³⁷ Observe the pure person, consider the upright;
for the peaceful person will have posterity.
³⁸ But transgressors will all be destroyed;
the posterity of the wicked will be cut off.
³⁹ Adonai is the one who saves the righteous;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
⁴⁰ Adonai helps them and rescues them,
rescues them from the wicked and saves them;
because they take refuge in him.

² Adonai, I have heard the report about you.
Adonai, I am awed by your deeds.
Bring your work to life in our own age,
make it known in our own time;
but in anger, remember compassion.
³ God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Pa’ran. (Selah)
His splendor covers the sky,
and his praise fills the earth.
⁴ His brightness is like the sun,
rays come forth from his hand —
that is where his power is concealed.
⁵ Before him goes pestilence,
and close behind, the plague.
⁶ When he stands up, the earth shakes;
when he looks, the nations tremble,
the eternal mountains are smashed to pieces,
the ancient hills sink down;
the ancient paths are his.
⁷ I saw trouble in the tents of Kushan
and the tent hangings shaking in the land of Midyan.

⁸ Adonai, is it against the rivers,
against the rivers that your anger is inflamed?
Is your fury directed at the sea?
Is that why you ride on your horses,
and drive your chariots to victory?
⁹ You brandish your naked bow
and order it filled with arrows. (Selah)
You split the earth with rivers.
¹⁰ The mountains see you and tremble;
a torrent of water streams by;
the deep thunders forth,
as it raises enormous waves.
¹¹ The sun and moon stand still in the sky
at the light of your arrows speeding by,
at the gleam of your glittering spear.
¹² In fury you stride across the land,
in anger you trample the nations.
¹³ You come out to save your people,
to save your anointed one;
you crush the head of the house of the wicked,
uncovering its foundation all the way to the neck.
¹⁴ With their own rods you pierce the head of their warriors,
who come like a whirlwind to scatter us,
who rejoice at the prospect
of devouring the poor in secret.
¹⁵ You tread down the sea with your horses,
churning up the mighty waters.

¹⁶ When I heard, my whole body trembled,
my lips shook at the sound;
weakness overcame my limbs,
my legs gave way beneath me.
But I wait calmly for the day of trouble,
when it comes upon our assailants.
¹⁷ For even if the fig tree doesn’t blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines,
even if the olive tree fails to produce,
and the fields yield no food at all,
even if the sheep vanish from the sheep pen,
and there are no cows in the stalls;
¹⁸ still, I will rejoice in Adonai,
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.