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 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.