Knox Bible

1

(Of David.)
Art thou impatient, friend, when the wicked thrive; dost thou envy the lot of evil-doers?

2

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

3

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

4

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

5

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

6

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

7

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

8

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

9

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

10

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

11

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

12

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

13

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

14

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

15

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

16

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

17

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

18

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

19

undismayed by adversity, in time of famine well content.

20

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

21

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

22

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

23

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

24

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

25

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

26

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

27

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

28

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

29

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

30

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

31

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

32

Sinners lie in wait, plotting against the life of the innocent;

33

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

34

Trust 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

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

36

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

37

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

38

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

39

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

40

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