Psalms

Chapter 36

  1. 1

    A rt thou impatient, friend, when the wicked thrive; dost thou envy the lot of evil-doers?

  2. 2

    they will soon fade like the grass, like the green leaf wither away.

  3. 3

    B e content to trust in the Lord and do good; live on thy land, and take thy ease,

  4. 4

    all thy longing fixed in the Lord; so he will give thee what thy heart desires.

  5. 5

    C ommit thy life to the Lord, and trust in him; he will prosper thee,

  6. 6

    making thy honesty clear as the day, the justice of thy cause bright as the sun at noon.

  7. 7

    D umb and patient, to the Lord’s mercy look thou, never fretting over the man that has his own way, and thrives by villainy.

  8. 8

    E nd thy complaints, forgo displeasure, do not fret thyself into an evil mood;

  9. 9

    the evil-minded will be dispossessed, and patient souls, that wait for the Lord, succeed them.

  10. 10

    F orbear yet a little, and the sinner will be seen no more; thou wilt search in vain to find him,

  11. 11

    while patient souls are the land’s heirs, enjoying great peace.

  12. 12

    G nashing his teeth with envy, the wrong-doer plots against the innocent,

  13. 13

    and cannot see his own turn coming; but the Lord sees it, and laughs at his malice.

  14. 14

    H ow they draw the sword, how they bend the bow, these sinners, to bring ruin on helpless poverty, to murder the upright;

  15. 15

    swords that will pierce their own hearts, bows that will break in pieces!

  16. 16

    I nnocence, ill endowed, has the better of the wicked in their abundance;

  17. 17

    soon fails the strength of their arms, and still the Lord has the just in his keeping.

  18. 18

    J ealously the Lord watches over the lives of the guiltless, they will hold their lands for ever,

  19. 19

    undismayed by adversity, in time of famine well content.

  20. 20

    K navery will yet come to an end; like the spring’s finery they will die, the Lord’s enemies, vanish away like smoke.

  21. 21

    L et the sinner borrow, and never repay, still the good man will be a generous giver;

  22. 22

    win the Lord’s blessing, and the land is thine, his ban is death.

  23. 23

    M an’s feet stand firm, if the Lord is with him to prosper his journey;

  24. 24

    he may stumble but never fall, with the Lord’s hand in his.

  25. 25

    N ow youth is past, and I have grown old; yet never did I see the good man forsaken, or his children begging their bread;

  26. 26

    still he lends without stint, and men call down blessings on his posterity.

  27. 27

    O ffend no more, rather do good, and be at rest continually;

  28. 28

    the Lord is ever just, and will not abandon his faithful servants. P erish the sinner, forgotten be the name of the evil-doer,

  29. 29

    but these will hold their land, and live on it always at rest.

  30. 30

    R ight reason is on the good man’s lips, well weighed are all his counsels;

  31. 31

    his steps never falter, because the law of God rules in his heart.

  32. 32

    S inners lie in wait, plotting against the life of the innocent;

  33. 33

    but the Lord will never leave him in their power, never find him guilty when he is arraigned.

  34. 34

    T rust the Lord, and follow the path he has chosen; so he will set thee up in possession of thy land, and thou wilt live to see the wicked come to ruin.

  35. 35

    U ntil yesterday, I saw the evil-doer throned high as the branching cedars;

  36. 36

    then, when I passed by, he was there no longer, and I looked in vain to find him.

  37. 37

    V irtuous men and innocent mark thou well; he that lives peaceably will leave a race behind him,

  38. 38

    while sinners are rooted out every one, and their graceless names forgotten.

  39. 39

    W hen affliction comes, the Lord is the refuge and defence of the innocent;

  40. 40

    the Lord will aid and deliver them, rescue and preserve them from the power of wickedness, because they put their trust in him.