A psalm for David himself.
Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity.

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

Psalmus ipsi David.
Noli æmulari in malignantibus, neque zelaveris facientes iniquitatem:

For they shall shortly wither away as grass, and as the green herbs shall quickly fall.

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

quoniam tamquam fœnum velociter arescent, et quemadmodum olera herbarum cito decident.

Trust in the Lord, and do good, and dwell in the land, and thou shalt be fed with its riches.

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

Spera in Domino, et fac bonitatem; et inhabita terram, et pasceris in divitiis ejus.

Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart.

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

Delectare in Domino, et dabit tibi petitiones cordis tui.

Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it.

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

Revela Domino viam tuam, et spera in eo, et ipse faciet.

And he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

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

Et educet quasi lumen justitiam tuam, et judicium tuum tamquam meridiem.

Be subject to the Lord and pray to him. Envy not the man who prospereth in his way; the man who doth unjust things.

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

Subditus esto Domino, et ora eum. Noli æmulari in eo qui prosperatur in via sua; in homine faciente injustitias.

Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil.

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

Desine ab ira, et derelinque furorem; noli æmulari ut maligneris.

For evildoers shall be cut off: but they that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the land.

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

Quoniam qui malignantur exterminabuntur; sustinentes autem Dominum, ipsi hæreditabunt terram.

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: and thou shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it.

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

Et adhuc pusillum, et non erit peccator; et quæres locum ejus, et non invenies.

But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight in abundance of peace.

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

Mansueti autem hæreditabunt terram, et delectabuntur in multitudine pacis.

The sinner shall watch the just man: and shall gnash upon him with his teeth.

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

Observabit peccator justum, et stridebit super eum dentibus suis.

But the Lord shall laugh at him: for he foreseeth that his day shall come.

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

Dominus autem irridebit eum, quoniam prospicit quod veniet dies ejus.

The wicked have drawn out the sword: they have bent their bow. To cast down the poor and needy, to kill the upright of heart.

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

Gladium evaginaverunt peccatores; intenderunt arcum suum: ut dejiciant pauperem et inopem, ut trucident rectos corde.

Let their sword enter into their own hearts, and let their bow be broken.

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

Gladius eorum intret in corda ipsorum, et arcus eorum confringatur.

Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the wicked.

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

Melius est modicum justo, super divitias peccatorum multas:

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken in pieces; but the Lord strengtheneth the just.

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

quoniam brachia peccatorum conterentur: confirmat autem justos Dominus.

The Lord knoweth the days of the undefiled; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

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

Novit Dominus dies immaculatorum, et hæreditas eorum in æternum erit.

They shall not be confounded in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be filled:

undismayed by adversity, in time of famine well content.

Non confundentur in tempore malo, et in diebus famis saturabuntur:

because the wicked shall perish. And the enemies of the Lord, presently after they shall be honoured and exalted, shall come to nothing and vanish like smoke.

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

quia peccatores peribunt. Inimici vero Domini mox ut honorificati fuerint et exaltati, deficientes quemadmodum fumus deficient.

The sinner shall borrow, and not pay again; but the just sheweth mercy and shall give.

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

Mutuabitur peccator, et non solvet; justus autem miseretur et tribuet:

For such as bless him shall inherit the land: but such as curse him shall perish.

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

quia benedicentes ei hæreditabunt terram; maledicentes autem ei disperibunt.

With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he shall like well his way.

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

Apud Dominum gressus hominis dirigentur, et viam ejus volet.

When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth his hand under him.

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

Cum ceciderit, non collidetur, quia Dominus supponit manum suam.

I have been young, and now am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.

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

Junior fui, etenim senui; et non vidi justum derelictum, nec semen ejus quærens panem.

He sheweth mercy, and lendeth all the day long; and his seed shall be in blessing.

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

Tota die miseretur et commodat; et semen illius in benedictione erit.

Decline from evil and do good, and dwell for ever and ever.

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

Declina a malo, et fac bonum, et inhabita in sæculum sæculi:

For the Lord loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints: they shall be preserved for ever. The unjust shall be punished, and the seed of the wicked shall perish.

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

quia Dominus amat judicium, et non derelinquet sanctos suos: in æternum conservabuntur. Injusti punientur, et semen impiorum peribit.

But the just shall inherit the land, and shall dwell therein for evermore.

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

Justi autem hæreditabunt terram, et inhabitabunt in sæculum sæculi super eam.

The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: and his tongue shall speak judgment.

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

Os justi meditabitur sapientiam, et lingua ejus loquetur judicium.

The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be supplanted.

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

Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius, et non supplantabuntur gressus ejus.

The wicked watcheth the just man, and seeketh to put him to death.

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

Considerat peccator justum, et quærit mortificare eum.

But the Lord will not leave him in his hands; nor condemn him when he shall be judged.

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

Dominus autem non derelinquet eum in manibus ejus, nec damnabit eum cum judicabitur illi.

Expect the Lord and keep his way: and he will exalt thee to inherit the land: when the sinners shall perish thou shalt see.

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.

Exspecta Dominum, et custodi viam ejus, et exaltabit te ut hæreditate capias terram: cum perierint peccatores, videbis.

I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus.

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

Vidi impium superexaltatum, et elevatum sicut cedros Libani:

And I passed by, and lo, he was not: and I sought him and his place was not found.

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

et transivi, et ecce non erat; et quæsivi eum, et non est inventus locus ejus.

Keep innocence, and behold justice: for there are remnants for the peaceable man.

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

Custodi innocentiam, et vide æquitatem, quoniam sunt reliquiæ homini pacifico.

But the unjust shall be destroyed together: the remnants of the wicked shall perish.

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

Injusti autem disperibunt simul; reliquiæ impiorum interibunt.

But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their protector in the time of trouble.

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

Salus autem justorum a Domino; et protector eorum in tempore tribulationis.

And the Lord will help them and deliver them: and he will rescue them from the wicked, and save them, because they have hoped in him.

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

Et adjuvabit eos Dominus, et liberabit eos; et eruet eos a peccatoribus, et salvabit eos, quia speraverunt in eo.