Psalm 37
Vers 1
O do not fret because of evildoers
or envy those whose wicked deeds you see.
They’ll fade like grass and lose their wealth and power;
they like green plants will wither presently.
Do good and trust in God, your rock and tower;
dwell in the land, enjoy security.
Vers 2
The LORD will grant your heart’s desire as favour
when you make him your joy and your delight.
Commit your way to him. The LORD will ever
let vindication dawn for the upright.
He richly will reward your just endeavour;
your cause will like the noonday sun shine bright.
Vers 3
Rest in the LORD with patient expectation,
and when the wicked prosper in their way,
do not be envious of their wealth and station.
Let anger never in your heart hold sway
and do not be embittered by vexation.
It only leads to trouble and dismay.
Vers 4
Those hoping in the LORD for vindication
will as their heritage possess the land.
But evildoers, to their consternation,
will be cut off by God’s almighty hand.
Soon you will see their former habitation
laid waste, reduced to nothing in the end.
Vers 5
The humble will possess the land forever
and will enjoy great peace within their gates.
The wicked, ready with their bow and quiver,
may gnash their teeth at them in angry hate,
but God looks down and laughs at their endeavour,
for he has set the day of their defeat.
Vers 6
The wicked draw the broadsword of oppression
and bend the bow to bring the needy down,
to slay the upright by their bold aggression.
But when the LORD comes, they’ ll be overthrown;
he’ll break their bows and drive them to perdition.
They with their swords will pierce themselves alone.
Vers 7
Far better are the just man’s few possessions
than all the wealth that evildoers hoard.
Shattered will be the strong arm of oppression,
but all the just find refuge in the LORD.
He knows their days, and them he in compassion
will with a lasting heritage reward.
Vers 8
They are not put to shame in days of trouble
and will in famine have enough to eat.
As for God’s foes, the glory of the rebel
will fade like meadows in the summer’s heat
and, vanishing like smoke of burning stubble,
they all will perish, humbled in defeat.
Vers 9
The wicked borrow, but without repaying;
as for the just, they give with open hand.
Those whom God curses, he will be destroying;
to those he blesses he will give the land.
The LORD delights in those who without straying
walk in his ways; on him they can depend.
Vers 10
When in their steps they falter and are shaken,
the LORD himself will grasp them by the hand.
Young once, now old, I’ve seen how God has taken
good care of those who on his help depend:
I’ve never known the just to be forsaken
or seen their children begging in the land.
Vers 11
They’re always freely giving, freely lending;
blest are their children, praised by everyone.
Like them, do good, to those in need attending;
turn from all sin and paths of evil shun.
Then you will have as home through time unending
the pleasant land that God for you has won.
Vers 12
The righteous man to wisdom gives expression;
his tongue speaks only what is just and right.
Within his heart, God’s law is his possession;
his walk will never wander from its light.
Though evil men have made his death their mission,
the LORD will come to save him from his plight.
Vers 13
The LORD will never fail to show his favour,
nor let the just by judges be condemned.
Walk in his way; hope in the LORD your Saviour.
He will exalt you, giving you the land,
and when the wicked are cut off forever,
you’ll see the outcome of what he has planned.
Vers 14
I’ve seen a wicked man whose ruthless power
was firmly rooted like a native tree,
a tree whose top above all others towered.
But soon no trace of him was left to see;
although I tried to find this evildoer,
I searched in vain: forever gone was he!
Vers 15
Observe the upright and the just consider;
there is a future for the man of peace.
Transgressors will be wiped out altogether;
the line of their posterity will cease.
Then will the just rejoice with one another
in blessings that will evermore increase.
Vers 16
The just look to the LORD for their salvation;
he is their shelter in the time of stress,
the fortress where they seek their preservation
when by the wicked hounded and oppressed.
In him they place their hope and expectation
and find a refuge in his faithfulness.
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