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Book 1

Psalms 1—41

Two Ways to Live

Happy is the person who doesn’t listen to the wicked.
    He doesn’t go where sinners go.
    He doesn’t do what bad people do.
He loves the Lord’s teachings.
    He thinks about those teachings day and night.
He is strong, like a tree planted by a river.
    It produces fruit in season.
    Its leaves don’t die.
Everything he does will succeed.

But wicked people are not like that.
    They are like useless chaff
    that the wind blows away.
So the wicked will not escape God’s punishment.
    Sinners will not worship God with good people.
This is because the Lord protects good people.
    But the wicked will be destroyed.

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one(A)
    who does not walk(B) in step with the wicked(C)
or stand in the way(D) that sinners take(E)
    or sit(F) in the company of mockers,(G)
but whose delight(H) is in the law of the Lord,(I)
    and who meditates(J) on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree(K) planted by streams(L) of water,(M)
    which yields its fruit(N) in season
and whose leaf(O) does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.(P)

Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff(Q)
    that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand(R) in the judgment,(S)
    nor sinners in the assembly(T) of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over(U) the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.(V)