18-19. 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.
21-22. Wicked borrows and never returns;Righteous gives and gives.Generous gets it all in the end;Stingy is cut off at the pass.
23-24. Stalwart walks in step with God;his path blazed by God, he’s happy.If he stumbles, he’s not down for long;God has a grip on his hand.
25-26. I once was young, now I’m a graybeard—not once have I seen an abandoned believer,or his kids out roaming the streets.Every day he’s out giving and lending,his children making him proud.
27-28. Turn your back on evil,work for the good and don’t quit.God loves this kind of thing,never turns away from his friends.
28-29. Live this way and you’ve got it made,but bad eggs will be tossed out.The good get planted on good landand put down healthy roots.
30-31. Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone,rolls virtue around on his tongue.His heart pumps God’s Word like blood through his veins;his feet are as sure as a cat’s.
32-33. 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.
34. Wait passionately for God,don’t leave the path.He’ll give you your place in the sunwhile you watch the wicked lose it.
35-36. I saw Wicked bloated like a toad,croaking pretentious nonsense.The next time I looked there was nothing—a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.
37-38. Keep your eye on the healthy soul,scrutinize the straight life;There’s a futurein strenuous wholeness.But the willful will soon be discarded;insolent souls are on a dead-end street.
39-40. The spacious, free life is from God,it’s also protected and safe.God-strengthened, we’re delivered from evil—when we run to him, he saves us.