BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

Concerning Food Sacrificed to Idols

8 Now about food sacrificed to idols:^(A) We know that “We all possess knowledge.”^(B) But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.

¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam^(A) son of Bezer,^[a] who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.^(B)

¹⁷ These people are springs without water^(C) and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.^{(D) 18} For they mouth empty, boastful words^(E) and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping^(F) from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”^(G)