BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome.

Bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure— you, the righteous God who probes minds and hearts.

You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

The Lord is known by his acts of justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God.

In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.

In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, “He won’t call me to account”?

Break the arm of the wicked man; call the evildoer to account for his wickedness that would not otherwise be found out.

For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.

On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.

You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked,

from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.

Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down; with your sword rescue me from the wicked.

By your hand save me from such people, Lord, from those of this world whose reward is in this life. May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies; may their children gorge themselves on it, and may there be leftovers for their little ones.

Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.

in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.

When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.