(Psalms 1–41)

1 God blesses those people

who refuse evil advice

and won't follow sinners

or join in sneering at God.

2 Instead, 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.

4 That isn't true of those

who are evil—

they are like straw

blown by the wind.

5 Sinners won't have an excuse

on the day of judgment,

and they won't have a place

with the people of God.

6 The Lord protects everyone

who follows him,

but the wicked follow a road

that leads to ruin.