Psalm 37

English Standard Version

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

^[a] Of David.

37 ^(A)Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not ^(B)envious of wrongdoers!
²For they will soon ^(C)fade like ^(D)the grass
and wither ^(E)like the green herb.

³^(F)Trust in the Lord, and do good;
^(G)dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.^[b]
⁴^(H)Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will ^(I)give you the desires of your heart.

⁵^(J)Commit your way to the Lord;
^(K)trust in him, and he will act.
⁶^(L)He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as ^(M)the noonday.

⁷^(N)Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
^(O)fret not yourself over the one who ^(P)prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

⁸^(Q)Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
^(R)Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
⁹^(S)For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall ^(T)inherit the land.

¹⁰In ^(U)just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at ^(V)his place, he will not be there.
¹¹But ^(W)the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in ^(X)abundant peace.

¹²The wicked ^(Y)plots against the righteous
and ^(Z)gnashes his teeth at him,
¹³but the Lord ^(AA)laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his ^(AB)day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and ^(AC)bend their bows
    to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those whose ^(AD)way is upright;
¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart,
    and their ^(AE)bows shall be broken.

¹⁶^(AF)Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
¹⁷For ^(AG)the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord ^(AH)upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord ^(AI)knows the days of the blameless,
and their ^(AJ)heritage will remain forever;
¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times;
in ^(AK)the days of famine they have abundance.

²⁰But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like ^(AL)the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like ^(AM)smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous ^(AN)is generous and gives;
²²for those blessed by the Lord^[c] shall ^(AO)inherit the land,
but those cursed by him ^(AP)shall be cut off.

²³The ^(AQ)steps of a man are ^(AR)established by the Lord,
when he delights in his way;
²⁴^(AS)though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord ^(AT)upholds his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children ^(AU)begging for bread.
²⁶He is ever ^(AV)lending generously,
    and his children become a blessing.

²⁷^(AW)Turn away from evil and do good;
    so shall you ^(AX)dwell forever.
²⁸For the Lord ^(AY)loves justice;
    he will not forsake his ^(AZ)saints.
They are preserved forever,
    but the children of the wicked shall be ^(BA)cut off.
²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land
    and ^(BB)dwell upon it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
³¹^(BC)The law of his God is in his heart;
his ^(BD)steps do not slip.

³²The wicked ^(BE)watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
³³The Lord will not ^(BF)abandon him to his power
or let him ^(BG)be condemned when he is brought to trial.

³⁴^(BH)Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on ^(BI)when the wicked are cut off.

³⁵^(BJ)I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like ^(BK)a green laurel tree.^[d]
³⁶But he passed away,^[e] and behold, ^(BL)he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of ^(BM)peace.
³⁸But ^(BN)transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked ^(BO)shall be cut off.

³⁹^(BP)The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
    he is their stronghold in ^(BQ)the time of trouble.
⁴⁰The Lord helps them and ^(BR)delivers them;
    ^(BS)he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
    because they ^(BT)take refuge in him.

Footnotes

Psalm 37:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Psalm 37:3 Or and feed on faithfulness, or and find safe pasture
Psalm 37:22 Hebrew by him
Psalm 37:35 The identity of this tree is uncertain
Psalm 37:36 Or But one passed by

Isaiah 7:1-9

English Standard Version

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 In the days of ^(A)Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ^(B)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(C)Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ²When the house of David was told, ^(D)“Syria is in league with^[a] ^(E)Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz^[b] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and ^(F)Shear-jashub^[c] your son, at the end of ^(G)the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴And say to him, ^(H)‘Be careful, ^(I)be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^(J)smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^(K)the son of Remaliah. ⁵Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^(L)the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it^[d] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷thus says the Lord God:

^(M)“‘It shall not stand,
    and it shall not come to pass.
⁸For the head of Syria is ^(N)Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
⁹And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is ^(O)the son of Remaliah.
^(P)If you^[e] are not firm in faith,
    you will not be firm at all.’”

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Footnotes

Isaiah 7:2 Hebrew Syria has rested upon
Isaiah 7:2 Hebrew his heart
Isaiah 7:3 Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return
Isaiah 7:6 Hebrew let us split it open
Isaiah 7:9 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

English Standard Version

The Man of Lawlessness

2 Now concerning ^(A)the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(B)being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,^[a] ²not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^(C)alarmed, either ^(D)by a spirit or a ^(E)spoken word, or ^(F)a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^(G)the day of the Lord has come. ³^(H)Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^(I)unless the rebellion comes first, and ^(J)the man of lawlessness^[b] is revealed, ^(K)the son of destruction,^[c] ⁴who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(L)proclaiming himself to be God. ⁵Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷For ^(M)the mystery of lawlessness ^(N)is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸And then ^(O)the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^(P)will kill with ^(Q)the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^(R)the appearance of his coming. ⁹The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^(S)with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰and with all wicked deception for ^(T)those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹Therefore ^(U)God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^(V)what is false, ¹²in order that all may be condemned ^(W)who did not believe the truth but ^(X)had pleasure in unrighteousness.

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Footnotes

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 13, 15
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Some manuscripts sin
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Greek the son of perdition (a Hebrew idiom)

Luke 22:1-13

English Standard Version

The Plot to Kill Jesus

22 ^(A)Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called ^(B)the Passover. ²And the chief priests and the scribes ^(C)were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

Judas to Betray Jesus

³^(D)Then ^(E)Satan entered into ^(F)Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. ⁴He went away and conferred with the chief priests and ^(G)officers how he might betray him to them. ⁵And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. ⁶So he consented and sought an opportunity to ^(H)betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

The Passover with the Disciples

⁷^(I)Then came ^(J)the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸So Jesus^[a] sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” ⁹They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” ¹⁰He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters ¹¹and tell the master of the house, ^(K)‘The Teacher says to you, Where is ^(L)the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹²And he will show you ^(M)a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” ¹³And they went and found it ^(N)just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.