95 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
95 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 37
|
||
1 Don’t worry about the wicked
|
||
or envy those who do wrong.
|
||
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
|
||
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
|
||
3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
|
||
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
|
||
4 Take delight in the Lord,
|
||
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
|
||
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
|
||
Trust him, and he will help you.
|
||
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
|
||
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
|
||
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
|
||
and wait patiently for him to act.
|
||
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
|
||
or fret about their wicked schemes.
|
||
8 Stop being angry!
|
||
Turn from your rage!
|
||
Do not lose your temper—
|
||
it only leads to harm.
|
||
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
|
||
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.
|
||
10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
|
||
Though you look for them, they will be gone.
|
||
11 The lowly will possess the land
|
||
and will live in peace and prosperity.
|
||
12 The wicked plot against the godly;
|
||
they snarl at them in defiance.
|
||
13 But the Lord just laughs,
|
||
for he sees their day of judgment coming.
|
||
14 The wicked draw their swords
|
||
and string their bows
|
||
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
|
||
to slaughter those who do right.
|
||
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts,
|
||
and their bows will be broken.
|
||
16 It is better to be godly and have little
|
||
than to be evil and rich.
|
||
17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
|
||
but the Lord takes care of the godly.
|
||
18 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
|
||
and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
|
||
19 They will not be disgraced in hard times;
|
||
even in famine they will have more than enough.
|
||
20 But the wicked will die.
|
||
The Lord’s enemies are like flowers in a field—
|
||
they will disappear like smoke.
|
||
21 The wicked borrow and never repay,
|
||
but the godly are generous givers.
|
||
22 Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
|
||
but those he curses will die.
|
||
23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
|
||
He delights in every detail of their lives.
|
||
24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
|
||
for the Lord holds them by the hand.
|
||
25 Once I was young, and now I am old.
|
||
Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
|
||
or their children begging for bread.
|
||
26 The godly always give generous loans to others,
|
||
and their children are a blessing.
|
||
27 Turn from evil and do good,
|
||
and you will live in the land forever.
|
||
28 For the Lord loves justice,
|
||
and he will never abandon the godly.
|
||
He will keep them safe forever,
|
||
but the children of the wicked will die.
|
||
29 The godly will possess the land
|
||
and will live there forever.
|
||
30 The godly offer good counsel;
|
||
they teach right from wrong.
|
||
31 They have made God’s law their own,
|
||
so they will never slip from his path.
|
||
32 The wicked wait in ambush for the godly,
|
||
looking for an excuse to kill them.
|
||
33 But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed
|
||
or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.
|
||
34 Put your hope in the Lord.
|
||
Travel steadily along his path.
|
||
He will honor you by giving you the land.
|
||
You will see the wicked destroyed.
|
||
35 I have seen wicked and ruthless people
|
||
flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
|
||
36 But when I looked again, they were gone!
|
||
Though I searched for them, I could not find them!
|
||
37 Look at those who are honest and good,
|
||
for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
|
||
38 But the rebellious will be destroyed;
|
||
they have no future.
|
||
39 The Lord rescues the godly;
|
||
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
|
||
40 The Lord helps them,
|
||
rescuing them from the wicked.
|
||
He saves them,
|
||
and they find shelter in him. |