Psalms 139
1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.
Thou hast know my sitting down, and my rising up.
3 You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.
Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.
And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
5 You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.
Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.
7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy 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, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present. (Sheol h7585)
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,
If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
10 even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.
Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
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 shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.
13 For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother’s womb.
14 I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.
I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right 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 is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in 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.
Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.
17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is 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 shall be multiplied above the sand: I rose up and am still with thee.
19 O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me:
20 who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy 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 them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pine away because of thy enemies?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.
I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine 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 be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.
