139:1 [For the music director. A Psalm of David.]
LORD, You have searched me and known me.
139:2 You know ①when I sit down and ②when I get up;
You understand my thought from far away.
▷ ①Lit my sitting ②Lit my rising
139:3 You ①scrutinize my ②path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
▷ ①Lit winnow ②Or journeying
139:4 ①Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, LORD, You know it all.
▷ ①Lit For there is not
139:5 You have encircled me behind and in front,
And placed Your hand upon me.
139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.
139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
139:8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in ①Sheol, behold, You are there.
▷ ①I.e., the netherworld
139:9 If I take up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
139:10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
139:11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will ①overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
▷ ①Lit bruise; some commentators cover
139:12 Even darkness is not dark ①to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
▷ ①Lit from
139:13 For You created my innermost parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
139:14 I will give thanks to You, because ①I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
▷ ①Some ancient versions You are fearfully wonderful
139:15 My ①frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth;
▷ ①Lit bones were
139:16 Your eyes have seen my formless substance;
And in Your book were written
All the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
139:18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
139:19 If only You would put the wicked to death, God;
Leave me, you men of bloodshed.
139:20 For they speak ①against You wickedly,
And Your enemies ②take Your name in vain.
▷ ①Or of ②Some mss lift themselves up against You
139:21 Do I not hate those who hate You, LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
139:22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts;
139:24 And see if there is any ①hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
▷ ①Lit way of pain