Psalms 139
1 TO THE OVERSEER. A PSALM OF DAVID. YHWH, You have searched me, and know.
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You have known my sitting down, And my rising up, You have attended to my thoughts from afar.
You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.
3 You have fanned my path and my lying down, And have been acquainted [with] all my ways.
You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, Behold, O YHWH, You have known it all!
Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.
5 You have besieged me behind and before, And You place Your hand on me.
You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.
6 Knowledge too wonderful for me, It has been set on high, I am not able for it.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 To where do I go from Your Spirit? And to where do I flee from Your face?
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend the heavens—You [are] there, And spread out a bed in Sheol, behold, You! (Sheol h7585)
If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. (Sheol h7585)
9 I take the wings of morning, I dwell in the uttermost part of the sea,
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,
10 Also there Your hand leads me, And Your right hand holds me.
even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.
11 And I say, “Surely darkness bruises me,” Then night [is] light to me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
12 Also darkness does not hide from You, And night shines as day, As [is] darkness so [is] light.
even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
13 For You have possessed my reins, You cover me in my mother’s belly.
For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I confess You, because I have been fearfully distinguished. Your works [are] wonderful, And my soul is knowing [it] well.
I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.
15 My substance was not hid from You, When I was made in secret, Curiously worked in the lower part of earth.
My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance, And all of them are written on Your scroll, The days they were formed—And not one among them.
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.
17 And how precious Your thoughts have been to me, O God, how great has been their sum!
How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
18 I recount them! They are more than the sand, I have awoken, and I am still with You.
If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.
19 Do You slay, O God, the wicked? Then, men of blood, turn aside from me!
O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
20 Who exchange You for wickedness, Your enemies [are] lifted up to vanity.
who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate, YHWH, those hating You? And grieve myself with Your withstanders?
Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
22 I have hated them [with] perfect hatred, They have become enemies to me.
I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart, Try me, and know my thoughts,
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
24 And see if a grievous way be in me, And lead me in a perpetual way!
See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.
