Psalms 1

1 Happy are those who don't follow the advice of the wicked. They refuse to adopt the ways of sinful people, and they don't make fun of others.

Blessed is the one who doesn't follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join in with scoffers.

2 Instead they love to do what the law of the Lord says, and they think about it day and night.

But his delight is in the law of Jehovah, and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 They're like trees growing by flowing rivers, producing fruit every season. Their leaves never wither, and they are successful in all they do.

He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.

4 But it's not like that for the wicked! They are like chaff, blown away by the wind.

Not so with the wicked; instead, they are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

5 For this reason the wicked will not survive the judgment—sinners have no place among those who live right.

Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over those who follow the right way, but the way of the wicked leads to death.

For Jehovah knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.