Psalms 139
1 Yahweh, you have examined me, and you know [everything about] me.
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up. [Even though you are] far away from me, you know what I am thinking.
You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.
3 When I travel and when I lie down, you know everything that I do.
You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.
4 Yahweh, even before I say [MTY] anything, you know everything that I am going to say!
Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.
5 You protect me on all sides; you put your hand on me [to protect me with your power] [MTY].
You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.
6 I am not able to understand that you know [everything about me]. That is too great for me to really understand.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 (Where could I go to escape from your Spirit?/I could not go anywhere to escape from your Spirit.) [RHQ] (Where could I go to get away from you?/I could not go anywhere to get away from you.) [RHQ]
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there. If I lay down in the place where the dead people are, you would be there. (Sheol h7585)
If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. (Sheol h7585)
9 If I had wings and flew very far east [MTY], or if I flew west and made a place to live [on an island] in the ocean,
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,
10 you would be there also, to lead me by your hand, and you would help me.
even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.
11 I could request the darkness to hide me, or I could request the light around me to become darkness,
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
12 but even [if that happened], the darkness would not be darkness for you! For you, the night is [as bright] as the daytime is, because for you, daylight and darkness are (not different/the same).
even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
13 You created [all] the parts of my body; you put [the parts of] my body together when I was still in my mother’s womb.
For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because you made my [body in a very] awesome and wonderful way. Everything that you do is amazing! I know that very well.
I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.
15 When my body was being formed, while it was being put together where no one else could see it, you saw it!
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 You saw me before I was born. You wrote in your book the number of days that you had decided that I would live. You did that before any of those days had [even] started!
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 God, what you think about me is very precious (OR, is very hard to understand). There is a great number of things that you think about.
How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
18 If I could count them, [I would see that] they are more than the grains of sand [at the seashore]. And when I wake up, I am still with you [and I know that there are still more of your thoughts about me to count].
If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.
19 God, I desire that you would kill all the wicked people! And I wish that violent [MTY] men would (leave/go away from) me.
O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
20 They say wicked/malicious things about you; they slander your name.
who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Yahweh, I certainly [RHQ] hate those who hate you! And I despise [RHQ] those who rebel against you.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
22 I hate them completely, and I consider that they are my enemies.
I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.
23 God, search my inner being; find out what I am thinking!
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
24 Find out whether there is anything evil in my [inner being], and lead me along the road [that leads to my being with you] forever.
See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.
