Bible Browser

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.

⁵ Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
   and make mere flesh their strength,
   whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
⁶ They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
   and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
   in an uninhabited salt land.

⁷ Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
   whose trust is the Lord.
⁸ They shall be like a tree planted by water,
   sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
   and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
   and it does not cease to bear fruit.

⁹ The heart is devious above all else;
   it is perverse—
   who can understand it?
¹⁰ I the Lord test the mind
   and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
   according to the fruit of their doings.