Mazmur 37:11

37:11 But the oppressed will possess the land

and enjoy great prosperity. ¹ 

Mazmur 37:16

37:16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than

the wealth of many evil men, ² 

Mazmur 37:18-19

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ³ 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ⁴ 

37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; ⁵ 

when famine comes they will have enough to eat. ⁶ 

Mazmur 37:22-25

37:22 Surely ⁷  those favored by the Lord ⁸  will possess the land,

but those rejected ⁹  by him will be wiped out. ¹⁰ 

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. ¹¹ 

37:24 Even if ¹²  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ¹³ 

for the Lord holds ¹⁴  his hand.

37:25 I was once young, now I am old.

I have never seen a godly man abandoned,

or his children ¹⁵  forced to search for food. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 37:28-29

37:28 For the Lord promotes ¹⁷  justice,

and never abandons ¹⁸  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ¹⁹ 

but the children ²⁰  of evil men are wiped out. ²¹ 

37:29 The godly will possess the land

and will dwell in it permanently.

Mazmur 37:37

37:37 Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the godly! ²² 

For the one who promotes peace has a future. ²³ 

[37:11]  ¹ tn Heb “and they will take delight in (see v. 4) abundance of peace.”

[37:16]  ² tn Heb “Better [is] a little to the godly one than the wealth of many evil ones.” The following verses explain why this is true. Though a godly individual may seem to have only meager possessions, he always has what he needs and will eventually possess the land. The wicked may prosper for a brief time, but will eventually be destroyed by divine judgment and lose everything.

[37:18]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord knows the days of the innocent ones.” He “knows” their days in the sense that he is intimately aware of and involved in their daily struggles. He meets their needs and sustains them.

[37:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

[37:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”

[37:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”

[37:22]  ⁷ tn The particle כִּי is best understood as asseverative or emphatic here.

[37:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “those blessed by him.” The pronoun “him” must refer to the Lord (see vv. 20, 23), so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “cursed.”

[37:22]  ¹⁰ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed” (see v. 9).

[37:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from the Lord the steps of a man are established, and in his way he delights.” The second line qualifies the first. The man whose behavior is commendable in God’s sight is the one whose ways are established by God. Another option is that the second line refers to the godly man delighting in God’s “way,” namely the lifestyle which he prescribes for men. In this case one might translate, “The Lord grants success to the one who desires to obey his commands.”

[37:24]  ¹² tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[37:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “be hurled down.”

[37:24]  ¹⁴ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

[37:25]  ¹⁵ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “or his offspring searching for food.” The expression “search for food” also appears in Lam 1:11, where Jerusalem’s refugees are forced to search for food and to trade their valuable possessions for something to eat.

[37:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ¹⁹ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ²⁰ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ²¹ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[37:37]  ²² tn Or “upright.”

[37:37]  ²³ tn Heb “for [there is] an end for a man of peace.” Some interpret אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) as referring to offspring (see the next verse and Ps 109:13; cf. NEB, NRSV).