Psalms 37:16-37

¹⁶It is good to be righteous/godly even if you do not have many possessions, but it is bad to be wicked, even if you are very wealthy,

¹⁷because Yahweh will completely take away the strength of wicked people, but he will ◄sustain/take care of► people who live righteously.

¹⁸Every day Yahweh cares about those who have not done any evil things; the things that Yahweh gives them will last forever.

¹⁹They will survive when calamities occur; when there are famines, they will still have plenty to eat.

²⁰But wicked people will die; just like the beautiful wild flowers in the fields die under the hot sun and disappear like smoke MET, Yahweh will cause his enemies to suddenly disappear.

²¹The wicked people borrow money, but they are not able to repay it; righteous/godly people, in contrast, have enough money that they can give generously to others.

²²Those whom Yahweh has blessed will live safely in the land that he has given to them, but he will get rid of those people whom he has cursed.

²³Yahweh protects those who do what is pleasing to him, and he will enable them to walk confidently, wherever they go;

²⁴even if they stumble, they will not fall down, because Yahweh holds them by his hand.

²⁵I was young previously, and now I am an old man, but in all those years, I have never seen righteous/godly people being abandoned by Yahweh, nor have I seen that their children needed to beg for food.

²⁶Righteous/Godly people are generous, and happily lend money to others, and their children are a blessing to them.

²⁷Turn away from doing evil, and do what is good. If you do that, you and your descendants will live in your land forever.

²⁸That will happen because Yahweh likes to see people doing what is just, and he will never forsake righteous/godly people. He will protect them forever; but he will get rid of the children of wicked people.

²⁹Righteous/Godly people will own the land that Yahweh promised to give to them, and they will live there forever.

³⁰Righteous people give wise advice to others, and they MTY say what is just/fair.

³¹They continually think about God's laws; they do not stray from God's path.

³²Those who are evil wait in ambush for righteous people in order to kill them as they walk by.

³³But Yahweh will not abandon righteous people, and allow ◄them to fall into their enemies' hands/their enemies harm them►. And he will not allow righteous people to be condemned when someone takes them to a judge to be put on trial.

³⁴Be patient and trust that Yahweh will help you, and ◄walk on his paths/do what he wants you to do►. If you do that, he will honor you by giving you the land that he promised, and when he gets rid of the wicked, you will see it happen.

³⁵I have seen that wicked people who ◄act like tyrants/terrify people► sometimes prosper, like trees that grow well in fertile soil,

³⁶when I looked later, they were gone! I searched for them, but Yahweh had caused them to disappear.

³⁷Notice the people who have not done evil things, those who act righteously: their descendants will have peace in their inner beings.