Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37
Do Not Fret Because of Evildoers
Heading
By David.
Do Not Be Frustrated by the Wicked
1 Do not fret because of evildoers.
Do not be envious of those who do wrong,
2 for like grass they will wither quickly.
Like green plants they will wilt.
Trust in God’s Goodness
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good.
Dwell in the land and feed on faithfulness.[a]
4 Take pleasure in the Lord,
and he will grant your heart’s desires.
5 Commit your way to the Lord.
Trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your righteousness shine like light,
your justice like noon.
7 Be silent before the Lord. Wait patiently for him.
Do not fret when an evil man succeeds in his ways,
when he carries out his wicked schemes.
Consider the Final Destiny of the Wicked
8 Let go of anger and abandon rage.
Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the earth.
10 After a little while the wicked will be no more.
When you search for them at their place, they are not there.
11 But the meek[b] will inherit the earth.
They will enjoy plenty of peace.
12 The wicked person plots against the righteous.
He gnashes his teeth at him,
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
because he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked draw their sword,
and they bend their bow
to make the poor and needy fall,
to slaughter those whose ways are upright.
15 Their swords will pierce their hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
Be Satisfied With God’s Blessings
16 Better the little that one righteous person has
than the wealth of many wicked people,
17 because the arms of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless.
Their inheritance will last forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in time of disaster.
In days of famine they will be full.
20 Surely the wicked will perish.
The enemies of the Lord will be
like beautiful flowers in the pastures.
But they will vanish. Like smoke they will vanish.
Continue to Live a Godly Life
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous are gracious and give.
22 So those God blesses will inherit the earth,
but those he curses will be cut off.
23 By the Lord the steps of a person are made secure.
Then he will delight in his way.
24 Though he falls, he will not stay down,
because the Lord holds him by his hand.
25 I was a young man. Now I am old.
But I have never seen a righteous person forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
26 Every day he is gracious and lends.
His children will be blessed.
27 Turn back from evil and do good.
Then you will remain forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice.
He will not forsake his favored ones.[c]
They will be protected forever,
but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will inherit the earth.
They will dwell on it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom.
His tongue speaks what is just.
31 The law of his God is in his heart.
His steps do not slip.
Review of the Theme
32 The wicked spy on the righteous one and seek to kill him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in their hand.
He will not let him be condemned when he is put on trial.
34 Wait for the Lord and keep to his way.
He will raise you up to take possession of the earth.
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I saw a wicked, ruthless man.
He was rooted like a green plant in its native soil,
36 but he passed away. Just like that, he was gone!
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Take note of the blameless. Look at the upright.
Yes, there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But rebels will be completely destroyed.
The future of the wicked will be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.
He is their stronghold in times of stress.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them.
He delivers them from the wicked.
He saves them, because they have taken refuge in him.
The Fifth Vision: The Lord Topples the Temple
9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
Strike the capitals on top of the pillars so that the thresholds shake.
Cut them off so that they fall on the heads of all the people,
and those who survive I will kill with the sword.
No one who flees from there will get away,
and not a single fugitive from among them will escape.
2 Even if they dig down to hell,[a]
from there my hand will seize them.
And even if they ascend to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
3 Even if they hide themselves on the top of Mount Carmel,
from there I will search for them, and I will seize them.
Even if they hide themselves from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
from there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.
4 Even if they go into captivity in the presence of their enemies,
from there I will command the sword, and it will kill them.
And I will set my eye upon them for disaster and not for good.
The Lord Shakes the Earth
5 The Lord God of Armies is the one who touches the earth, so that it melts.
All who dwell on it mourn.
All of it rises like the Nile,
and like the Nile of Egypt it sinks down again.
6 He is the one who builds his upper chambers in heaven.
He set the foundation for his vault upon the earth.
He is the one who summons the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the earth—
the Lord is his name.
The Final Judgment
7 Are you not like Cushites[b] to me, you children of Israel?
declares the Lord.
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt
and the Philistines from Caphtor[c]
and the Arameans from Kir?[d]
8 Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
But I will never completely destroy the house of Jacob,
declares the Lord.
9 Listen! I am giving a command,
and among all the nations I will shake the house of Israel
as the contents of a sieve are shaken,
and not even one pebble[e] will fall out to the ground.[f]
10 By a sword, all the sinners among my people will die,
those who are saying, “Disaster will not overtake us. It will not confront us.”
Letter to the Church in Smyrna
8 To the messenger of the church in Smyrna write:
The First and the Last, who was dead and came to life again, says this:
9 I know[a] your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich. And I know the blasphemy that comes from those who say they are Jews but are not; rather, they are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear anything that[b] you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you will be tested, and you will suffer for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Letter to the Church in Pergamum
12 To the messenger of the church in Pergamum write:
The one who has the sharp, two-edged sword says this:
13 I know[c] where you live—where the throne of Satan is. And I know that you hold fast to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me even in the days when Antipas, my faithful witness,[d] was put to death near you, the place where Satan lives.
14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block in front of the children of Israel so that they would eat things offered to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have some people who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore,[e] repent! If not, I will come to you soon, and I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious I will give some of the hidden manna.[f] I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one will know except the one who receives it.
Woes and Warnings
13 “But woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven right in front of people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor do you permit those who are trying to enter to do so.[a] 15 Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel the sea and the land to make one convert, and then when he is converted, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ 17 You blind fools! After all, which is greater: the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men! After all, which is greater: the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. 21 Also, whoever swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven, swears by God’s throne and by him who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give ten percent of your mint, dill, and cumin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. You should have done these things and not failed to do the other things. 24 Blind guides, you strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of a cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and dish so that the outside may become clean too.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.