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Psalm 37

1  Fret not because of evildoers; ♦︎
   be not jealous of those who do wrong.
2  For they shall soon wither like grass ♦︎
   and like the green herb fade away.
3  Trust in the Lord and be doing good; ♦︎
   dwell in the land and be nourished with truth.
4  Let your delight be in the Lord ♦︎
   and he will give you your heart’s desire.
5  Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, ♦︎
   and he will bring it to pass.
6  He will make your righteousness as clear as the light ♦︎
   and your just dealing as the noonday.
7  Be still before the Lord and wait for him; ♦︎
   do not fret over those that prosper
      as they follow their evil schemes.
8  Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; ♦︎
   do not fret, lest you be moved to do evil.
9  For evildoers shall be cut off, ♦︎
   but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the land.
10  Yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; ♦︎
   you will search for their place and find them gone.
11  But the lowly shall possess the land ♦︎
   and shall delight in abundance of peace.
12  The wicked plot against the righteous ♦︎
   and gnash at them with their teeth.
13  The Lord shall laugh at the wicked, ♦︎
   for he sees that their day is coming.
14  The wicked draw their sword and bend their bow
      to strike down the poor and needy, ♦︎
   to slaughter those who walk in truth.
15  Their sword shall go through their own heart ♦︎
   and their bows shall be broken.
16  The little that the righteous have ♦︎
   is better than great riches of the wicked.
17  For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, ♦︎
   but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18  The Lord knows the days of the godly, ♦︎
   and their inheritance shall stand for ever.
19  They shall not be put to shame in the perilous time, ♦︎
   and in days of famine they shall have enough.
20  But the wicked shall perish;
      like the glory of the meadows
      the enemies of the Lord shall vanish; ♦︎
   they shall vanish like smoke.
21  The wicked borrow and do not repay, ♦︎
   but the righteous are generous in giving.
22  For those who are blest by God shall possess the land, ♦︎
   but those who are cursed by him shall be rooted out.
23  When your steps are guided by the Lord ♦︎
   and you delight in his way,
24  Though you stumble, you shall not fall headlong, ♦︎
   for the Lord holds you fast by the hand.
25  I have been young and now am old, ♦︎
   yet never have I seen the righteous forsaken,
      or their children begging their bread.
26  All the day long they are generous in lending, ♦︎
   and their children also shall be blest.
27  Depart from evil and do good ♦︎
   and you shall abide for ever.
28  For the Lord loves the thing that is right ♦︎
   and will not forsake his faithful ones.
29  The unjust shall be destroyed for ever, ♦︎
   and the offspring of the wicked shall be rooted out.
30  The righteous shall possess the land ♦︎
   and dwell in it for ever.
31  The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, ♦︎
   and their tongue speaks the thing that is right.
32  The law of their God is in their heart ♦︎
   and their footsteps shall not slide.
33  The wicked spy on the righteous ♦︎
   and seek occasion to slay them.
34  The Lord will not leave them in their hand, ♦︎
   nor let them be condemned when they are judged.
35  Wait upon the Lord and keep his way; ♦︎
   he will raise you up to possess the land,
      and when the wicked are uprooted, you shall see it.
36  I myself have seen the wicked in great power ♦︎
   and flourishing like a tree in full leaf.
37  I went by and lo, they were gone; ♦︎
   I sought them, but they could nowhere be found.
38  Keep innocence and heed the thing that is right, ♦︎
   for that will bring you peace at the last.
39  But the sinners shall perish together, ♦︎
   and the posterity of the wicked shall be rooted out.
40  The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; ♦︎
   he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
41  The Lord shall stand by them and deliver them; ♦︎
   he shall deliver them from the wicked and shall save them,
      because they have put their trust in him.

A Vision of God in the Temple

6In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. ²Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’
⁴The pivots^* on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. ⁵And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷The seraph^* touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ ⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ ⁹And he said, ‘Go and say to this people:
“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
keep looking, but do not understand.”
¹⁰ Make the mind of this people dull,
   and stop their ears,
   and shut their eyes,
so that they may not look with their eyes,
   and listen with their ears,
and comprehend with their minds,
   and turn and be healed.’
¹¹ Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ And he said:
‘Until cities lie waste
   without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
   and the land is utterly desolate;
¹² until the Lord sends everyone far away,
   and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.
¹³ Even if a tenth part remains in it,
   it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak
   whose stump remains standing
   when it is felled.’^*
The holy seed is its stump.

Concerning Anger

21 ‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” ²²But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister,^* you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult^* a brother or sister,^* you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell^* of fire. ²³So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister^* has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister,^* and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court^* with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Concerning Adultery

27 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” ²⁸But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.^{* 30}And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.^*

Concerning Divorce

31 ‘It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” ³²But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Concerning Oaths

33 ‘Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” ³⁴But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.^*