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Psalm 37:2

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb.

1By David. Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.
2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb.
3Trust in the LORD, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
4Also delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
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← Psalm 37:1Psalm 37:3 →
Notice

Green grass makes the strength of evildoers look brief and vulnerable, even when their present success seems to give every reason for envy.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

Where does wrongdoing seem as vigorous as green grass to you right now?

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How do you read “soon” when the end of wrongdoing seems far away?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

10 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
1 Peter 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;Both compare human life to grass that withers; Psalm 37 speaks of evildoers, while Peter speaks of all flesh.
Psalm 92:7though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.Both compare evildoers to grass, declaring that their flourishing will end in destruction.
Psalm 90:5–6You sweep them away as they sleep. In the morning they sprout like new grass.Both use grass to portray fragile human life, with Psalm 90 naming God as the one who sweeps people away.
James 1:10–11and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.Both use grass to challenge apparent strength: evildoers will wither, and the rich person will pass away.
Psalm 37:35–36I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.Both portray the wicked through green plants; verse 35 describes their apparent vigor, while verse 2 declares their coming end.
Job 14:2He grows up like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue.Both compare people to plants that are cut down, emphasizing how brief their life is.
Job 20:5–9that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?Both describe the wicked’s apparent success as brief, using the language of soon and short duration.
Psalm 73:17–20until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.Both turn attention toward an end: Psalm 37 describes it, while Psalm 73 recounts considering it in God’s sanctuary.
Isaiah 37:27Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass …Both use grass and the green herb to portray people whose apparent life and strength cannot secure them.
Jude 1:12These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by …Both describe people through failing vegetation: Psalm 37 uses withering herbs, while Jude uses fruitless, dead, uprooted trees.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. envy and comparison. waiting.

What the Bible says about anger →What the Bible says about patience →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 37:1–3 aloud beside a patch of grass

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Encouragement

The word “soon” can be hard to hear when wrongdoing lasts. Yet the grass image denies evildoers lasting strength; YHWH remains the one to trust.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 37:2. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 37 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).