Psalms 37:18

THE MESSAGE

God keeps track of the decent folk; what they do won't soon be forgotten. In hard times, they'll hold their heads high; when the shelves are bare, they'll be full.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord watches over the blameless all their days,and their inheritance will last forever.

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever.

King James Version
The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.

English Standard Version
The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever;

New Century Version
The Lord watches over the lives of the innocent, and their reward will last forever.

New English Translation
The Lord watches over the innocent day by day and they possess a permanent inheritance.

Amplified Bible
The LORD knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will continue forever.

New American Standard Bible
The LORD knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever.

World English Bible
Yahweh knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The Lorde knoweth the dayes of vpright men, and their inheritance shall bee perpetuall.

Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh knows the days of the blameless,And their inheritance will be forever.

Berean Standard Bible
The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will last forever.

Contemporary English Version
Those who obey the Lord are daily in his care, and what he has given them will be theirs forever.

Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai knows what the wholehearted suffer, but their inheritance lasts forever.

Darby Translation
Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect; and their inheritance shall be for ever:

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord protects pure people all their life. Their reward will continue forever.

George Lamsa Translation
The LORD knows the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

Good News Translation
The Lord takes care of those who obey him, and the land will be theirs forever.

Lexham English Bible
Yahweh knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever.

Literal Translation
Jehovah knows the days of the upright; yea, their inheritance shall be forever.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The LORDE knoweth the dayes of the godly, & their enheritauce shal endure for euer.

American Standard Version
Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect; And their inheritance shall be for ever.

Bible in Basic English
The days of the upright are numbered by the Lord, and their heritage will be for ever.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
The LORD knoweth the days of them that are wholehearted; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

King James Version (1611)
The Lord knoweth the dayes of the vpright: and their inheritance shall be for euer.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
God knoweth the dayes of them that be perfect: and their inheritaunce shall endure for euer.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The Lord knows the ways of the perfect; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

English Revised Version
The LORD knoweth the days of the perfect: and their inheritance shall be for ever.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The Lord knowith the daies of vnwemmed; and her heritage schal be withouten ende.

Update Bible Version
Yahweh knows the days of the perfect; And their inheritance shall be forever.

Webster's Bible Translation
The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.

New King James Version
The LORD knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever.

New Living Translation
Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.

New Life Bible
The Lord knows the days of those who are without blame. And what is theirs will last forever.

New Revised Standard
The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide forever;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yahweh knoweth the days of the blameless, that, their inheritance, unto times age-abiding, shall continue.

Douay-Rheims Bible
(36-18) The Lord knoweth the days of the undefiled; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

Revised Standard Version
The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide for ever;

Young's Literal Translation
Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect, And their inheritance is -- to the age.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The Lord knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever.

Contextual Overview

⁷ Quiet down before God , be prayerful before him. Don't bother with those who climb the ladder, who elbow their way to the top. ⁸Bridle your anger, trash your wrath, cool your pipes—it only makes things worse. Before long the crooks will be bankrupt; God -investors will soon own the store. ¹⁰Before you know it, the wicked will have had it; you'll stare at his once famous place and—nothing! Down-to-earth people will move in and take over, relishing a huge bonanza. ¹²Bad guys have it in for the good guys, obsessed with doing them in. But God isn't losing any sleep; to him they're a joke with no punch line. ¹⁴Bullies brandish their swords, pull back on their bows with a flourish. They're out to beat up on the harmless, or mug that nice man out walking his dog. A banana peel lands them flat on their faces— slapstick figures in a moral circus. ¹⁶Less is more and more is less. One righteous will outclass fifty wicked, For the wicked are moral weaklings but the righteous are God -strong. ¹⁸ God keeps track of the decent folk; what they do won't soon be forgotten. In hard times, they'll hold their heads high; when the shelves are bare, they'll be full. ²⁰ God-despisers have had it; God 's enemies are finished— Stripped bare like vineyards at harvest time, vanished like smoke in thin air.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

knoweth: Psalms 1:6, Psalms 31:7, Matthew 6:32, 2 Timothy 2:19

the days: Psalms 37:13, Psalms 31:15, Psalms 49:5, Deuteronomy 33:25, Matthew 24:21-24, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 2 Timothy 4:2-4, Revelation 11:3-5

their: Psalms 16:11, Psalms 21:4, Psalms 73:24, Psalms 103:17, Isaiah 60:21, Romans 5:21, Romans 6:23, 1 Peter 1:4, 1 Peter 1:5, 1 John 2:25

Reciprocal: Psalms 37:22 - Blessed Psalms 37:29 - General Proverbs 13:25 - righteous Ecclesiastes 8:12 - surely Ezekiel 46:16 - If the prince Zechariah 14:7 - which Matthew 6:33 - and all Ephesians 1:11 - we Hebrews 9:15 - eternal

Cross-References

Genesis 37:14
He said, "Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report." He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem.

Genesis 37:15
A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"

1 Samuel 19:1
Saul called his son Jonathan together with his servants and ordered them to kill David. But because Jonathan treasured David, he went and warned him: "My father is looking for a way to kill you. Here's what you are to do. Tomorrow morning, hide and stay hidden. I'll go out with my father into the field where you are hiding. I'll talk about you with my father and we'll see what he says. Then I'll report back to you."

Psalms 37:12
Bad guys have it in for the good guys, obsessed with doing them in. But God isn't losing any sleep; to him they're a joke with no punch line.

Psalms 37:32
Wicked sets a watch for Righteous, he's out for the kill. God , alert, is also on watch— Wicked won't hurt a hair of his head.

Matthew 21:38
"But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. ‘This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.

Matthew 27:1
In the first light of dawn, all the high priests and religious leaders met and put the finishing touches on their plot to kill Jesus. Then they tied him up and paraded him to Pilate, the governor.

Mark 12:7
"But those farmhands saw their chance. They rubbed their hands together in greed and said, ‘This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' They grabbed him, killed him, and threw him over the fence.

Mark 14:1
In only two days the eight-day Festival of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way they could seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. "We don't want the crowds up in arms," they said.

John 11:53
From that day on, they plotted to kill him. So Jesus no longer went out in public among the Jews. He withdrew into the country bordering the desert to a town called Ephraim and secluded himself there with his disciples.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The Lord knoweth the days of the upright,.... Not only how long they shall live, and so fill up their days, the number of them, as Aben Ezra interprets it; but the nature of their days, whether prosperous or adverse; and causes both to work together for their good; and he knows the work of their days, as Jarchi explains it, the actions done by them in faith and love, and to his honour and glory, and which he approves and accepts of in Christ; see Psalms 1:6;

and their inheritance shall be for ever; in heaven, which is an eternal and never fading one, Hebrews 9:15; and therefore they ought not to fret and be envious.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Lord knoweth the days of the upright - See the notes at Psalms 1:6. He knows how long they will live, and all that will happen to them. He sees their whole course of life; he sees the end. It is implied here that his eyes are on all the allotted days of their life; on all that has been ordained for them in the whole course of their life; and that nothing can shorten the days appointed to them. The wicked expect to live, hope to live, make their arrangements to live; but their eyes cannot rest on the future, and they cannot see the end - cannot tell precisely when they will be cut off. Some unexpected calamity - something which they cannot foresee - may come upon them, and cut short their days long before the expected thee; but this cannot happen in respect to Him whose eyes are on the righteous. Nothing can prevent their reaching the thee which he has fixed as the termination of their lives.

And their inheritance shall be forever - Shall be permanent, enduring. Perhaps all that was implied in tiffs language, as it was used by the psalmist, was that they would “continue,” or would not be cut off as the wicked are; that is, that righteousness would contribute to length of days upon the earth (compare Psalms 37:9); yet the “language” suggests a higher idea, and is applicable to the righteous in respect to the promise that they will be put in “everlasting” possession of that which they “inherit” from God; that is, that they will be literally blessed forever. They will have a sure inheritance on earth, and it will endure to all eternity in another world.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 37:18. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright — He is acquainted with all his circumstances, severings, and ability to bear them; and he will either shorten his trials or increase his power. The Lord also approves of the man and his concerns; and his inheritance shall be for ever. He shall have God for his portion, here and hereafter. This is probably another indirect promise to the captives that they shall be restored to their own land. See Psalms 37:11.