¹ Do not fret because of evildoers.
Do not be envious of those who do wrong,
² for like grass they will wither quickly.
Like green plants they will wilt.

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good.
Dwell in the land and feed on faithfulness. ^[1]
4 Take pleasure in the Lord,
and he will grant your heart’s desires.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord.
Trust in him, and he will act.
⁶ He will make your righteousness shine like light,
your justice like noon.
⁷ Be silent before the Lord. Wait patiently for him.
Do not fret when an evil man succeeds in his ways,
when he carries out his wicked schemes.

⁸ Let go of anger and abandon rage.
Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
⁹ For evildoers will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the earth.
¹⁰ After a little while the wicked will be no more.
When you search for them at their place, they are not there.
¹¹ But the meek ^[2] will inherit the earth.
They will enjoy plenty of peace.
¹² The wicked person plots against the righteous.
He gnashes his teeth at him,
¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
because he sees that his day is coming.
¹⁴ The wicked draw their sword,
and they bend their bow
    to make the poor and needy fall,
    to slaughter those whose ways are upright.
¹⁵ Their swords will pierce their hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶ Better the little that one righteous person has
    than the wealth of many wicked people,
¹⁷ because the arms of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.
¹⁸ The Lord knows the days of the blameless.
Their inheritance will last forever.
¹⁹ They will not be ashamed in time of disaster.
In days of famine they will be full.
²⁰ Surely the wicked will perish.
The enemies of the Lord will be
    like beautiful flowers in the pastures.
But they will vanish. Like smoke they will vanish.