Exhortation to patience and trust

23 Our steps[a] are made firm by the Lord,

when he delights in our[b] way ;

24 though we stumble,[c] we[d] shall not fall headlong,

for the Lord holds us[e] by the hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old,

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or their children begging bread.

26 They are ever giving liberally and lending,

and their children become a blessing.

27 Depart from evil, and do good ;

so you shall abide forever.

28 For the Lord loves justice ;

he will not forsake his faithful ones.

The righteous shall be kept safe forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the land,

and live in it forever.

30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,

and their tongues speak justice.

31 The law of their God is in their hearts ;

their steps do not slip.

32 The wicked watch for the righteous,

and seek to kill them.

33 The Lord will not abandon them to their power,

or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial.

34 Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land ;

you will look on the destruction of the wicked.

35 I have seen the wicked oppressing,

and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.[f]

36 Again I[g] passed by, and they were no more ;

though I sought them, they could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless, and behold the upright,

for there is posterity for the peaceable.

38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed ;

the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord ;

he is their refuge in the time of trouble.

40 The Lord helps them and rescues them ;

he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.