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The Psalms

BOOK I

(Psalms 1-41)

Psalm 1

The Two Ways

¹ 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;
² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
³ 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.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 2

God’s Promise to His Anointed

¹ Why do the nations conspire,
   and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth set themselves,
   and the rulers take counsel together,
   against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
³ ‘Let us burst their bonds asunder,
   and cast their cords from us.’

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs;
   the Lord has them in derision.
⁵ Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
   and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶ ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’

⁷ I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, ‘You are my son;
   today I have begotten you.
⁸ Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
   and the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron,
   and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
   be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear,
   with trembling ¹²kiss his feet,^*
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
   for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 3

Trust in God under Adversity

A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.
¹ O Lord, how many are my foes!
   Many are rising against me;
² many are saying to me,
   ‘There is no help for you^* in God.’
          Selah

³ But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
   my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
⁴ I cry aloud to the Lord,
   and he answers me from his holy hill.
          Selah

⁵ I lie down and sleep;
   I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
⁶ I am not afraid of tens of thousands of people
   who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷ Rise up, O Lord!
   Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
   you break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
   may your blessing be on your people!
          Selah