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Book I

(Psalms 1–41)

Psalm 1

The Two Ways

Happy are those
    who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
    or sit in the seat of scoffers,(A)
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.(B)
They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.(C)

The wicked are not so
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.(D)
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,(E)
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.(F)

Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
    and make mere flesh their strength,
    whose hearts turn away from the Lord.(A)
They shall be like a shrub in the desert
    and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salt land.(B)

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.(C)
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
    sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
    and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
    and it does not cease to bear fruit.(D)

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