Psalms 37
37
1-2Don’t bother your head with braggarts
or wish you could succeed like the wicked.
In no time they’ll shrivel like grass clippings
and wilt like cut flowers in the sun.
3-4Get insurance with God and do a good deed,
settle down and stick to your last.
Keep company with God,
get in on the best.
5-6Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.
7Quiet down before God,
be prayerful before him.
Don’t bother with those who climb the ladder,
who elbow their way to the top.
8-9Bridle your anger, trash your wrath,
cool your pipes—it only makes things worse.
Before long the crooks will be bankrupt;
God-investors will soon own the store.
10-11Before you know it, the wicked will have had it;
you’ll stare at his once famous place and—nothing!
Down-to-earth people will move in and take over,
relishing a huge bonanza.
12-13Bad guys have it in for the good guys,
obsessed with doing them in.
But God isn’t losing any sleep; to him
they’re a joke with no punch line.
14-15Bullies brandish their swords,
pull back on their bows with a flourish.
They’re out to beat up on the harmless,
or mug that nice man out walking his dog.
A banana peel lands them flat on their faces—
slapstick figures in a moral circus.
16-17Less is more and more is less.
One righteous will outclass fifty wicked,
For the wicked are moral weaklings
but the righteous are God-strong.
18-19 God keeps track of the decent folk;
what they do won’t soon be forgotten.
In hard times, they’ll hold their heads high;
when the shelves are bare, they’ll be full.
20God-despisers have had it;
God’s enemies are finished—
Stripped bare like vineyards at harvest time,
vanished like smoke in thin air.
21-22Wicked borrows and never returns;
Righteous gives and gives.
Generous gets it all in the end;
Stingy is cut off at the pass.
23-24Stalwart walks in step with God;
his path blazed by God, he’s happy.
If he stumbles, he’s not down for long;
God has a grip on his hand.
25-26I once was young, now I’m a graybeard—
not once have I seen an abandoned believer,
or his kids out roaming the streets.
Every day he’s out giving and lending,
his children making him proud.
27-28a Turn your back on evil,
work for the good and don’t quit.
God loves this kind of thing,
never turns away from his friends.
28b-29 Live this way and you’ve got it made,
but bad eggs will be tossed out.
The good get planted on good land
and put down healthy roots.
30-31Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone,
rolls virtue around on his tongue.
His heart pumps God’s Word like blood through his veins;
his feet are as sure as a cat’s.
32-33Wicked sets a watch for Righteous,
he’s out for the kill.
God, alert, is also on watch—
Wicked won’t hurt a hair of his head.
34Wait passionately for God,
don’t leave the path.
He’ll give you your place in the sun
while you watch the wicked lose it.
35-36I saw Wicked bloated like a toad,
croaking pretentious nonsense.
The next time I looked there was nothing—
a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.
37-38Keep your eye on the healthy soul,
scrutinize the straight life;
There’s a future
in strenuous wholeness.
But the willful will soon be discarded;
insolent souls are on a dead-end street.
39-40The spacious, free life is from God,
it’s also protected and safe.
God-strengthened, we’re delivered from evil—
when we run to him, he saves us.
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Psalms 37: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Psalms 37
37
(By David.)
Trust the Lord
1Don't be annoyed by anyone
who does wrong,
and don't envy them.
2They will soon disappear
like grass without rain.
3Trust the Lord and live right!
The land will be yours,
and you will be safe.
4Do what the Lord wants,
and he will give you
your heart's desire.
5Let the Lord lead you
and trust him to help.
6Then it will be as clear
as the noonday sun
that you were right.
7Be patient and trust the Lord.
Don't let it bother you
when all goes well for those
who do sinful things.
8Don't be angry or furious.
Anger can lead to sin.
9All sinners will disappear,
but if you trust the Lord,
the land will be yours.
10Sinners will soon disappear,
never to be found,
11 #
Mt 5.5. but the poor will take the land
and enjoy a big harvest.
12Merciless people make plots
against good people
and snarl like animals,
13but the Lord laughs and knows
their time is coming soon.
14The wicked kill with swords
and shoot arrows to murder
the poor and the needy
and all who do right.
15But they will be killed
by their own swords,
and their arrows
will be broken.
16It is better to live right
and be poor
than to be sinful and rich.
17The wicked will lose all
of their power,
but the Lord gives strength
to everyone who is good.
18Those who obey the Lord
are daily in his care,
and what he has given them
will be theirs forever.
19They won't be in trouble
when times are bad,
and they will have plenty
when food is scarce.
20Wicked people are enemies
of the Lord
and will vanish like smoke
from a field on fire.
21An evil person borrows
and never pays back;
a good person is generous
and never stops giving.
22Everyone the Lord blesses
will receive the land;
everyone the Lord curses
will be destroyed.
23If you do what the Lord wants,
he will make certain
each step you take is sure.
24The Lord will hold your hand,
and if you stumble,
you still won't fall.
25As long as I can remember,
good people have never
been left helpless,
and their children have never
gone begging for food.
26They gladly give and lend,
and their children
turn out good.
27If you stop sinning
and start doing right,
you will keep living
and be secure forever.
28The Lord loves justice,
and he won't ever desert
his faithful people.
He always protects them,
but destroys the children
of the wicked.
29God's people will own the land
and live here forever.
30Words of wisdom come
when good people speak
for justice.
31They remember God's teachings,
and they never take
a wrong step.
32The wicked try to trap
and kill good people,
33but the Lord is on their side,
and he will defend them
when they are on trial.
34Trust the Lord and follow him.
He will give you the land,
and you will see
the wicked destroyed.
35I have seen brutal people
abuse others and grow strong
like trees in rich soil.#37.35 like … soil: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
36Suddenly they disappeared!
I looked, but they were gone
and no longer there.
37Think of the bright future
waiting for all the families
of honest, innocent,
and peace-loving people.
38But not a trace will be left
of the wicked
or their families.
39The Lord protects his people,
and they can come to him
in times of trouble.
40The Lord helps his people
and saves them from the wicked
because they run to him.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.