Psalm 1

Common English Bible

BOOK I

(Psalms 1–41)

Psalm 1

1 The truly happy person
    doesn’t follow wicked advice,
    doesn’t stand on the road of sinners,
    and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful.
²Instead of doing those things,
    these persons love the Lord’s Instruction,
    and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!
³They are like a tree replanted by streams of water,
    which bears fruit at just the right time
    and whose leaves don’t fade.
        Whatever they do succeeds.

⁴That’s not true for the wicked!
    They are like dust that the wind blows away.
⁵And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—
    neither will sinners
    in the assembly of the righteous.
⁶The Lord is intimately acquainted
    with the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked is destroyed.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Common English Bible

Life and death

¹⁵Look here! Today I’ve set before you life and what’s good versus death and what’s wrong. ¹⁶If you obey the Lord your God’s commandments that^[a] I’m commanding you right now by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments, his regulations, and his case laws, then you will live and thrive, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. ¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and so are misled, worshipping other gods and serving them, ¹⁸I’m telling you right now that you will definitely die. You will not prolong your life on the fertile land that you are crossing the Jordan River to enter and possess. ¹⁹I call heaven and earth as my witnesses against you right now: I have set life and death, blessing and curse before you. Now choose life—so that you and your descendants will live— ²⁰by loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by clinging to him. That’s how you will survive and live long on the fertile land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 30:16 LXX; MT lacks if you obey the Lord your God’s commandments.

Luke 9:18-25

Common English Bible

Following Christ

¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying by himself, the disciples joined him, and he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹They answered, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life.”

²⁰He asked them, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “The Christ sent from God.”

²¹Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. ²²He said, “The Human One^[a] must suffer many things and be rejected—by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts—and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

²³Jesus said to everyone, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me. ²⁴All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will save them. ²⁵What advantage do people have if they gain the whole world for themselves yet perish or lose their lives?

Read full chapter