Psalm 1:1–2:12

The Two Ways

¹Happy are those

who do not follow the advice of the wicked

or take the path that sinners tread

or sit in the seat of scoffers,^*

²but their delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law they meditate day and night.^*

³They are like trees

planted by streams of water,

which yield their fruit in its season,

and their leaves do not wither.

In all that they do, they prosper.^*

⁴The wicked are not so

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.^*

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,^*

⁶for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.^*

Psalm 2

God’s Promise to His Anointed

¹Why do the nations conspire

and the peoples plot in vain?^*

²The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the Lord and his anointed, saying,^*

³“Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast their cords from us.”

⁴He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord has them in derision.^*

⁵Then he will speak to them in his wrath

and terrify them in his fury, saying,^*

⁶“I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”^*

⁷I will tell of the decree of the Lord:

He said to me, “You are my son;

today I have begotten you.^*

⁸Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage

and the ends of the earth your possession.^*

⁹You shall break them with a rod of iron

and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”^*

¹⁰Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

be warned, O rulers of the earth.

¹¹Serve the Lord with fear;

with trembling^{* 12}kiss his feet,^a

or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are all who take refuge in him.^*