Psalm 139

1 LORD, you have examined me; you have known me.ISV — Psalm 139:1

2 You know when I rest ^{a139:2 Lit. know my sitting} and when I am active. ^{b139:2 Lit. and my rising} You understand what I am thinking when I am distant from you. ^{c139:2 Or thinking from a distance}ISV — Psalm 139:2

3 You scrutinize my life and my rest; ^{d139:3 Or death; Lit. my path and my lying down} you are familiar with all of my ways.ISV — Psalm 139:3

4 Even before I have formed a word with my tongue, you, LORD, know it completely!ISV — Psalm 139:4

5 You encircle me from back to front, placing your hand upon me.ISV — Psalm 139:5

6 Knowledge like this is too amazing for me. It is beyond my reach, and I cannot fathom it.ISV — Psalm 139:6

7 Where can I flee from your spirit? Or where will I run from your presence?ISV — Psalm 139:7

8 If I rise to heaven, there you are! If I lay down with the dead, ^{e139:8 Lit. to Sheol; i.e. the realm of the dead} there you are!ISV — Psalm 139:8

9 If I take wings with the dawn and settle down on the western horizon ^{f139:9 Lit. the end of the sea}ISV — Psalm 139:9

10 your hand will guide me there, too, while your right hand keeps a firm grip on me.ISV — Psalm 139:10

11 If I say, “Darkness will surely conceal me, and the light around me will become night,” ^{g139:11 So MT LXX; DSS 11QPs reads And let me say, “Surely darkness conceals and night has girded me about.”}ISV — Psalm 139:11

12 even darkness isn’t dark to you, darkness and light are the same to you. ^{h139:12 The Heb. lacks to you}ISV — Psalm 139:12

13 It was you who formed my internal organs, ^{i139:13 Lit. my kidneys} fashioning me within my mother’s womb.ISV — Psalm 139:13

14 I praise you, because you are fearful and wondrous! ^{j139:14 So DSS 11QPsa Syr Hieronymus; MT LXX read because I am fearfully and wonderfully made} Your work is wonderful, and I am fully aware of it.ISV — Psalm 139:14

15 My frame was not hidden from you while I was being crafted in a hidden place, knit together in the depths of the earth.ISV — Psalm 139:15

16 Your eyes looked upon my embryo, and everything was recorded in your book. The days scheduled ^{k139:16 The Heb. lacks scheduled} for my formation were inscribed, even though not one of them had come yet. ^{l139:16 The Heb. lacks had come yet}ISV — Psalm 139:16

17 How deep ^{m139:17 Or precious} are your thoughts, God! How great is their number!ISV — Psalm 139:17

18 Were I to count them, they would number more than the sand. When I awake, I will be with you.ISV — Psalm 139:18

19 God, if only you would execute the wicked, so that ^{n139:19 So LXX DSS 11QPsa; MT reads and so that} the men guilty of bloodshed would get away from me,ISV — Psalm 139:19

20 who speak against you with evil motives, your enemies who are acting in vain.ISV — Psalm 139:20

21 I hate those who hate you, LORD, do I not? I loathe those who rebel against you, do I not ?ISV — Psalm 139:21

22 With consummate hatred I hate them; I consider them my enemies.ISV — Psalm 139:22

23 Examine me, God, and know my mind, test me, and know my thoughts.ISV — Psalm 139:23

24 See if there is any offensive tendency ^{o139:24 Lit. way} in me, and lead me in the eternal way.ISV — Psalm 139:24