Psalms 37

¹A Psalm of David, in commemoration of the Sabbath.

²O Lord, do not rebuke me in your fury, nor chastise me in your wrath.

³For your arrows have been driven into me, and your hand has been confirmed over me.

⁴There is no health in my flesh before the face of your wrath. There is no peace for my bones before the face of my sins.

⁵For my iniquities have walked over my head, and they have been like a heavy burden weighing upon me.

⁶My sores have putrefied and been corrupted before the face of my foolishness.

⁷I have become miserable, and I have been bent down, even to the end. I have walked with contrition all day long.

⁸For my loins have been filled with illusions, and there is no health in my flesh.

⁹I have been afflicted and greatly humbled. I bellowed from the groaning of my heart.

¹⁰O Lord, all my desire is before you, and my groaning before you has not been hidden.

¹¹My heart has been disturbed. My strength has abandoned me, and the light of my eyes has abandoned me, and it is not with me.

¹²My friends and my neighbors have drawn near and stood against me. And those who were next to me stood far apart. And those who sought my soul used violence.

¹³And those who sought evil accusations against me were speaking emptiness. And they practiced deceitfulness all day long.

¹⁴But, like someone deaf, I did not hear. And I was like someone mute, not opening his mouth.

¹⁵And I became like a man who does not hear, and who has no reproofs in his mouth.

¹⁶For in you, Lord, I have hoped. You will listen to me, O Lord my God.

¹⁷For I said, “Lest at any time, my enemies might rejoice over me,” and, “While my feet are being shaken, they have spoken great things against me.”

¹⁸For I have been prepared for scourges, and my sorrow is ever before me.

¹⁹For I will announce my iniquity, and I will think about my sin.

²⁰But my enemies live, and they have been stronger than me. And those who have wrongfully hated me have been multiplied.

²¹Those who render evil for good have dragged me down, because I followed goodness.

²²Do not forsake me, O Lord my God. Do not depart from me.

²³Be attentive to my help, O Lord, the God of my salvation.

Psalms 37

¹Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

²For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

³Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

⁴Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

⁵Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

⁶And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

⁷Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

⁸Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

⁹For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

¹⁰For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

¹¹But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

¹²The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

¹³The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

¹⁵Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.

¹⁹They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

²⁰But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

²¹The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

²²For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

²³The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.

²⁴Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

²⁶He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

²⁷Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.

²⁸For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

³²The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

³³The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

³⁴Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

³⁵I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

³⁶Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

³⁸But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.