Psalms 37:5-26

⁵Entrust all that you do to the Lord. Place your confidence in him and he will help you.

⁶He will make your vindication shine like a light, the rightness of your cause like the noonday sun.

⁷Be still in God's presence; wait patiently for him. Don't be upset over people who prosper when they carry out their evil schemes.

⁸Give up your anger! Let go your rage! Don't get mad—it only results in evil!

⁹For the wicked will be destroyed, and those who trust in the Lord will take possession of the land.

¹⁰In a little while the wicked will be no more—though you look for them you won't find them.

¹¹The humble will own the land; they will live there happily, in peace and prosperity.

¹²The wicked plot evil against those who do good, gnashing their teeth at them.

¹³But the Lord laughs at them, for he sees their coming day of judgment.

¹⁴The wicked draw their swords, and bend their bows to destroy the poor and needy, to kill those who live right.

¹⁵But the swords of the wicked will slice through their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶It's better to do right and only have a little, than to be wicked and rich.

¹⁷For the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord supports those who do right.

¹⁸The Lord knows what is happening to the innocent and grants them an eternal inheritance.

¹⁹They will not be humiliated in bad times; even in days of famine they will have plenty to eat.

²⁰But the wicked will die. The enemies of the Lord are like the flowers of the field—they will vanish like smoke.

²¹The wicked borrow, but don't repay; while those who do right give generously.

²²Those who are blessed by God will own the land, but those he curses will die.

²³The Lord shows the right path to those who follow him, and is happy with the way they live.

²⁴Though they may trip up, they will not fall to the ground, for the Lord holds their hand.

²⁵Once I was young, and now I've grown old, yet I've never seen those who do right abandoned, nor their children having to beg for bread.

²⁶They are always kind, and generous with their loans; their children are a blessing.