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BOOK I (Psalms 1-41)

The Righteous and the Wicked[a]

How blessed is the person,
    who does not take[b] the advice of the wicked,
who does not stand on the path with sinners,
    and who does not sit in the seat of mockers.
But he delights in the Lord’s instruction,[c]
    and meditates in his instruction[d] day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
    yielding its fruit in its season,
        and whose leaf does not wither.
He will prosper in everything he does.

But this is not the case with the wicked.
    They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not escape[e] judgment,
    nor will sinners have a place[f] in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will be destroyed.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 1:1 Note: (1) Verse numbers may be different from MT because the titles of many psalms in MT are part of the first verse. (2) The phrase A song of, which appears in many psalm titles, may also be translated A song by, A song for, or A song to. (3) Psalm title terminologies “a psalm of David,” “a song of David,” etc., may connote—but do not necessarily connote—authorship by Israel’s King David. They are rendered herein as “a Davidic psalm,” “a Davidic song,” etc. (4) The traditionally unpronounced literary term Selah, which may indicate that the oral reader or cantor is to pause briefly after reading the line in which the term appears, is rendered herein as Interlude.
  2. Psalm 1:1 Lit. not walk by
  3. Psalm 1:2 Or Law
  4. Psalm 1:2 Or Law
  5. Psalm 1:5 Lit. stand in the
  6. Psalm 1:5 The Heb. lacks have a place in

The Ways of the Righteous and the Wicked

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked;
nor does he stand in the way of sinners;
nor does he sit in the assembly of mockers.
Instead, in the law of Yahweh is his delight,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
And so, he is like a tree planted by streams of water
that gives its fruit in its season;
its leaf also does not wither.
Therefore all that he does prospers.
Not so the wicked.
Instead, they are like the chaff that the wind scatters.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,[a]
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 1:6 Plural