Psalm 37:1–20

¹Do not be preoccupied with evildoers. 

Do not envy those who do wicked things. 

²They will quickly dry up like grass 

and wither away like green plants. 

³Trust the Lord, and do good things. 

Live in the land, and practice being faithful. 

⁴Be happy with the Lord, 

and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

⁵Entrust your ways to the Lord. 

Trust him, and he will act ⸤on your behalf⸥. 

⁶He will make your righteousness shine like a light, 

your just cause like the noonday sun. 

⁷Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him. 

Do not be preoccupied with ⸤an evildoer⸥ who succeeds in his way 

when he carries out his schemes. 

⁸Let go of anger, and leave rage behind. 

Do not be preoccupied. 

It only leads to evil. 

⁹Evildoers will be cut off ⸤from their inheritance⸥, 

but those who wait with hope for the Lord will inherit the land. 

¹⁰In a little while a wicked person will vanish. 

Then you can carefully examine where he was, 

but there will be no trace of him. 

¹¹Oppressed people will inherit the land 

and will enjoy unlimited peace. 

¹²The wicked person plots against a righteous one 

and grits his teeth at him. 

¹³The Lord laughs at him 

because he has seen that his time is coming. 

¹⁴Wicked people pull out their swords and bend their bows 

to kill oppressed and needy people, 

to slaughter those who are decent. 

¹⁵⸤But⸥ their own swords will pierce their hearts, 

and their bows will be broken. 

¹⁶The little that the righteous person has is better 

than the wealth of many wicked people. 

¹⁷The arms of wicked people will be broken, 

but the Lord continues to support righteous people. 

¹⁸The Lord knows the daily ⸤struggles⸥ of innocent people. 

Their inheritance will last forever. 

¹⁹They will not be put to shame in trying times. 

Even in times of famine they will be satisfied. 

²⁰But wicked people will disappear. 

The Lord’s enemies will vanish like the best part of a meadow. 

They will vanish like smoke.