Psalms 37 Verses 11 thru 20 from the Message Bible

 

11 Down-to-earth people will move in and take over,
relishing a huge bonanza.

12 Bad guys have it in for the good guys,
obsessed with doing them in.

13 But God isn’t losing any sleep; to him
they’re a joke with no punch line.

14 Bullies 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.

15 A banana peel lands them flat on their faces—
slapstick figures in a moral circus.

16 Less is more and more is less.
One righteous will outclass fifty wicked,

17 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.

19 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.