Noli aemulari.
An exhortation to despise this world; and the short prosperity of the
wicked; and to trust in Providence.
36:1. Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity.
36:2. For they shall shortly wither away as grass, and as the green
herbs shall quickly fall.
36:3. Trust in the Lord, and do good, and dwell in the land, and thou
shalt be fed with its riches.
36:4. Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy
heart.
36:5. Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it.
36:6. And he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy
judgment as the noonday.
36:7. Be subject to the Lord and pray to him. Envy not the man who
prospereth in his way; the man who doth unjust things.
36:8. Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil.
36:9. For evildoers shall be cut off: but they that wait upon the Lord,
they shall inherit the land.
36:10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: and thou
shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it.
36:11. But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight in
abundance of peace.
36:12. The sinner shall watch the just man: and shall gnash upon him
with his teeth.
36:13. But the Lord shall laugh at him: for he foreseeth that his day
shall come.
36:14. 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.
36:15. Let their sword enter into their own hearts, and let their bow
be broken.
36:16. Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the
wicked.
36:17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken in pieces; but the
Lord strengtheneth the just.
36:18. The Lord knoweth the days of the undefiled; and their
inheritance shall be for ever.
36:19. They shall not be confounded in the evil time; and in the days
of famine they shall be filled:
36:20. 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.
36:21. The sinner shall borrow, and not pay again; but the just sheweth
mercy and shall give.
36:22. For such as bless him shall inherit the land: but such as curse
him shall perish.
36:23. With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he shall
like well his way.
36:24. When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth
his hand under him.
36:25. I have been young and now am old; and I have not seen the just
forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.
36:26. He sheweth mercy, and lendeth all the day long; and his seed
shall be in blessing.
36:27. Decline from evil and do good, and dwell for ever and ever.
36:28. 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.
36:29. But the just shall inherit the land, and shall dwell therein for
evermore.
36:30. The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: and his tongue
shall speak judgment.
36:31. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be
supplanted.
36:32. The wicked watcheth the just man, and seeketh to put him to
death,
36:33. But the Lord will not leave him in his hands; nor condemn him
when he shall be judged.
36:34. Expect the Lord and keep his way: and he will exalt thee to
inherit the land: when the sinners shall perish thou shalt see.
36:35. I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the
cedars of Libanus.
36:36. And I passed by, and lo, he was not: and I sought him and his
place was not found.
36:37. Keep innocence, and behold justice: for there are remnants for
the peaceable man.
36:38. But the unjust shall be destroyed together: the remnants of the
wicked shall perish.
36:39. But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their
protector in the time of trouble.
36:40. 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.