Psalm 1
The Voice
Book One
Book One (Psalms 1–41) is attributed almost entirely to David; all but four of the psalms (1–2; 10; 33) are ascribed to him. In Hebrew Psalm 10 is a continuation of Psalm 9 because it was composed as an acrostic poem. Likewise, many Hebrew manuscripts combine Psalm 33 with 32. Only later are these divided into separate psalms. Psalm 1 sets the stage for the entire collection by explaining that the study of the Word of God is the foundation of a meaningful, prosperous life.
Psalm 1
1 God’s blessings follow you and await you at every turn:
when you don’t follow the advice of those who delight in wicked schemes,
When you avoid sin’s highway,
when judgment and sarcasm beckon you, but you refuse.
2 For you, the Eternal’s Word is your happiness.
It is your focus—from dusk to dawn.
3 You are like a tree,
planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry.
Your fruit ripens in its time;
your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun.
No matter what you do, you prosper.
4 For those who focus on sin, the story is different.
They are like the fallen husk of wheat, tossed by an open wind, left deserted and alone.
5 In the end, the wicked will fall in judgment;
the guilty will be separated from the innocent.
6 Their road suddenly will end in death,
yet the journey of the righteous has been charted by the Eternal.
Jeremiah 13:20-27
The Voice
20 (to Jerusalem) Now look to the north and see who is marching toward you.
Where is the beautiful flock that was entrusted to you?
21 What will you say when He appoints your so-called allies,
the very ones you trained, to rule over you?
Will not the pain stab at you
as it does a woman in childbirth?
22 When you begin to ask yourself, “Why is all this happening to me?”
know this: it is because of the weight of your sins.
This is why your enemies will tear off your skirts and violate your bodies.
23 And still, you will not change.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin?
Can a leopard change its spots?
It seems just as unlikely that you will change your ways and do good,
when you are so used to doing evil—it has become such a part of you.
24 Eternal One (to His people): This is why I will scatter you
like chaff driven by the desert wind.
25 This is now your fate—retribution measured out for you from the Eternal—
for you have forgotten Me and trusted in the lies of another.
26 For all this, I will be the One who lifts your skirts over your face,
exposing you and letting others see your disgrace.
27 As for your faithlessness, your adulteries and your lustful ways,
as for the degrading way you prostitute yourself to other gods out in the open, I see it all.
For all this, your fate is sealed. O Jerusalem—how bad it will be for you!
How long before you are clean again?
1 Peter 1:17-2:1
The Voice
17 If you call on the Father who judges everyone without partiality according to their actions, then you should live in reverence and awe while you live out the days of your exile.
18 You know that a price was paid to redeem you from following the empty ways handed on to you by your ancestors; it was not paid with things that perish (like silver and gold), 19 but with the precious blood of the Anointed, who was like a perfect and unblemished sacrificial lamb. 20 God determined to send Him before the world began, but He came into the world in these last days for your sake. 21 Through Him, you’ve been brought to trust in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him for the very reason that your faith and hope are in Him.
22 Now that you have taken care to purify your souls through your submission to the truth, you can experience real love for each other. So love each other deeply from a [pure][a] heart. 23 You have been reborn—not from seed that eventually dies but from seed that is eternal—through the word of God that lives and endures forever. 24 For as Isaiah said,
All life is like the grass,
and its glory like a flower;
The grass will wither and die,
and the flower falls,
25 But the word of the Lord will endure forever.[b]
This is the word that has been preached to you.
2 So get rid of hatefulness and deception, of insincerity and jealousy and slander.
Footnotes
- 1:22 Some manuscripts omit “pure.”
- 1:24–25 Isaiah 40:6b–8
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
