1 BOOK FIRST: Happy is the man who walketh not in the council of the wicked, and standeth not in the way of sinners, and sitteth not in the seat of scorners; 2 But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who doth meditate in his law by day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by rivulets of water, that yieldeth its fruit in its season, and the leaf of which doth not wither; and all that he may do shall prosper. 4 Not so the wicked; but they are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore shall the wicked not be able to stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord regardeth the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked leadeth to perdition.