Psalm 1

Contemporary English Version

BOOK I

(Psalms 1–41)

The Way to Happiness

¹God blesses those people
    who refuse evil advice
    and won't follow sinners
    or join in sneering at God.
²Instead, they find happiness
    in the Teaching of the Lord,
and they think about it
    day and night.

³^(A) They are like trees
    growing beside a stream,
trees that produce
fruit in season
    and always have leaves.
Those people succeed
    in everything they do.

⁴That isn't true of those
    who are evil—
they are like straw
    blown by the wind.
⁵Sinners won't have an excuse
    on the day of judgment,
and they won't have a place
    with the people of God.
⁶The Lord protects everyone
    who follows him,
but the wicked follow a road
    that leads to ruin.