Psalms 139
1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
“To the chief musician, by David, a psalm.” O Lord! thou hast searched me through, and thou knowest [me].
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.
Thou indeed knowest my sitting down and my rising up, thou understandest my thinking while yet afar off.
3 You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.
My walking and my lying down hast thou limited, and with all my ways art thou acquainted.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.
For, while there is not a word on my tongue, lo, thou, O Lord, knowest it entirely.
5 You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.
Behind and before hast thou hedged me in, and thou placest upon me thy hand.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Too wonderful is such knowledge for me: it is too exalted, I cannot attain unto 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 away from thy presence?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. (Sheol h7585)
If I should ascend into heaven, thou art there; and if I should make my bed in the nether world, behold, thou art there. (Sheol h7585)
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,
If I should lift up the wings of the morning-dawn, if I should 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 would thy hand lead me, and thy right hand would seize hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
If I said, Surely darkness shall enshroud me, and into night [be turned] the light about me:
12 even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
Yet even darkness can obscure nothing from thee; but the night will shine like the day; both the darkness and the light are alike [to thee].
13 For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
For thou possessest my reins: thou hast covered me in 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 thank thee therefore, that I am [so] fearfully [and] wonderfully made: wonderful are thy works; and that 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 being was not concealed from thee, when I was made in secret, when I was [so to say] embroidered in the lowest 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.
My undeveloped substance did thy eyes see; and in thy book were all of them written down—the days which have been formed, while yet not one of them was here.
17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
And how precious are unto me thy thoughts, O God! how mightily great is their sum!
18 If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.
Should I count them, they would be more numerous than the sand: I awake, and I am still with thee.
19 O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
If thou wouldst but slay the wicked, O God! and ye men of blood, depart from me.
20 who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Who speak of thee for a wicked end, thy enemies, that bear [thy name] for a vain purpose.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
Behold, those that hate thee I ever hate, O Lord; and for those that rise up against thee do I feel loathing.
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.
With the utmost hatred do I hate them: enemies are they become unto me.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
Search me through, O God, and know my heart; probe me, and know my thoughts:
24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.
And see if there be a way of perverseness in me, and lead me on the way of eternity.
