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Two Ways to Live

Happy are those who don’t listen to the wicked,
    who don’t go where sinners go,
    who don’t do what evil people do.
They love the Lord’s teachings,
    and they think about those teachings day and night.
They are strong, like a tree planted by a river.
    The tree produces fruit in season,
    and its leaves don’t die.
Everything they do will succeed.

But wicked people are not like that.
    They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
So the wicked will not escape God’s punishment.
    Sinners will not worship with God’s people.
This is because the Lord takes care of his people,
    but the wicked will be destroyed.

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one(A)
    who does not walk(B) in step with the wicked(C)
or stand in the way(D) that sinners take(E)
    or sit(F) in the company of mockers,(G)
but whose delight(H) is in the law of the Lord,(I)
    and who meditates(J) on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree(K) planted by streams(L) of water,(M)
    which yields its fruit(N) in season
and whose leaf(O) does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.(P)

Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff(Q)
    that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand(R) in the judgment,(S)
    nor sinners in the assembly(T) of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over(U) the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.(V)