Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 37
A Psalm of David.
1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
nor be jealous of those who do injustice.
2 For they will quickly wither like the grass,
and fade like the green herbs.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land, and practice 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 also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
do not fret because of those who prosper in their way,
because of those who make wicked schemes.
8 Let go of anger, and forsake wrath;
do not fret—it surely leads to evil deeds.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked will not be;
you will look diligently for their place, and it will not be.
11 But the meek will inherit the earth,
and will delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their refuge in the time of distress.
40 The Lord will help them and deliver them;
He will deliver them from the wicked,
and save them, because they take refuge in Him.
Judah’s Plea for Benjamin
18 Then Judah approached him and said, “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’
21 “You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.’ 22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ 23 You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 24 When we went back to your servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25 “Our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little food.’ 26 We said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down, for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27 “Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 And the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he was torn in pieces,” and I have not seen him since. 29 And if you take this one also from me and he is harmed, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.’
30 “Now therefore when I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, 31 when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to the grave. 32 For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I fail to bring him to you, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever.’
33 “Now therefore, please let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. 34 For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would find my father?”
Settling With Your Accuser(A)
57 “Why even among yourselves do you not judge what is right? 58 When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, as you are on the way, diligently try to settle matters with him, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the officer, and the officer will throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you shall not come out from there until you have paid the very last penny.”[a]
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.