Psalms 139

1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

Unto the end. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have examined me, and you have known me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

You have known my sitting down and my rising up again.

3 You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

You have understood my thoughts from afar. My path and my fate, you have investigated.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

And you have foreseen all my ways. For there is no word in my tongue.

5 You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.

Behold, O Lord, you have known all things: the newest and the very old. You have formed me, and you have placed your hand over me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Your knowledge has become a wonder to me. It has been reinforced, and I am not able to prevail against it.

7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?

Where will I go from your Spirit? And where will I flee from your face?

8 If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. (Sheol h7585)

If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I descend into Hell, you are near. (Sheol h7585)

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,

If I assume my feathers in early morning, and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea,

10 even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.

even there, your hand will lead me forth, and your right hand will hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—

And I said: Perhaps darkness will overwhelm me, and the night will be my illumination, to my delight.

12 even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

But darkness will not be impenetrable to you, and night will illuminate like the day: for just as its darkness is, so also is its light.

13 For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

For you have possessed my temperament. You have supported me from the womb of my mother.

14 I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

I will confess to you, for you have been magnified terribly. Your works are miraculous, as my soul knows exceedingly well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

My bone, which you have made in secret, has not been hidden from you, and my substance is in accord with the lower parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

Your eyes saw my imperfection, and all this shall be written in your book. Days will be formed, and no one shall be in them.

17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

But to me, O God, your friends have been greatly honored. Their first ruler has been exceedingly strengthened.

18 If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

I will number them, and they will be more numerous than the sand. I rose up, and I am still with you.

19 O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—

O God, if only you would cut down sinners. You men of blood: depart from me.

20 who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.

For you say in thought: They will accept your cities in vain.

21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?

Have I not hated those who hated you, Lord, and wasted away because of your enemies?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.

I have hated them with a perfect hatred, and they have become enemies to me.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

Examine me, O God, and know my heart. Question me, and know my paths.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

And see if there might be in me the way of iniquity, and lead me in the way of eternity.