17  As for me, I am ^cpoor and needy,

but ^dthe Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!

8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9  ^pFor as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

17  How precious to me are your ^kthoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

1  Blessed is the man¹

who ^awalks not in ^bthe counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in ^cthe way of sinners,

nor ^dsits in ^ethe seat of ^fscoffers;

2  but his ^gdelight is in the law² of the Lord,

and on his ^hlaw he meditates day and night.

3  He is like ⁱa tree

planted by ^jstreams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its ^kleaf does not wither.

^lIn all that he does, he prospers.

4  The wicked are not so,

but are like ^mchaff that the wind drives away.

5  Therefore the wicked ⁿwill not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in ^othe congregation of the righteous;

6  for the Lord ^pknows ^qthe way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.