Book One

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

Blessed is the man[a]
    who (A)walks not in (B)the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in (C)the way of sinners,
    nor (D)sits in (E)the seat of (F)scoffers;
but his (G)delight is in the law[b] of the Lord,
    and on his (H)law he meditates day and night.

He is like (I)a tree
    planted by (J)streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its (K)leaf does not wither.
(L)In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
    but are like (M)chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked (N)will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in (O)the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord (P)knows (Q)the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 1:1 The singular Hebrew word for man (ish) is used here to portray a representative example of a godly person; see Preface
  2. Psalm 1:2 Or instruction

When I (A)look at your heavens, the work of your (B)fingers,
    the moon and the stars, (C)which you have set in place,
(D)what is man that you are (E)mindful of him,
    and (F)the son of man that you (G)care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than (H)the heavenly beings[a]
    and crowned him with (I)glory and honor.
You have given him (J)dominion over the works of your hands;
    (K)you have put all things under his feet,

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 8:5 Or than God; Septuagint than the angels

Blessed Are the Forgiven

A Maskil[a] of David.

32 (A)Blessed is the one whose (B)transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord (C)counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit (D)there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my (E)bones wasted away
    through my (F)groaning all day long.
For day and night your (G)hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up[b] as by the heat of summer. Selah

I (H)acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I (I)will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 32:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
  2. Psalm 32:4 Hebrew my vitality was changed

Behold, (A)I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.

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