Psalms 139

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 For the leader. A psalm of David. O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:	1 Unto the end. A Psalm of David.
2 you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.	2 Rescue me, O Lord, from the evil man. Rescue me from the iniquitous leader.
3 My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar.	3 Those who have devised iniquities in their hearts: all day long they constructed conflicts.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all.	4 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. The venom of asps is under their lips.
5 Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.	5 Preserve me, O Lord, from the hand of the sinner, and rescue me from men of iniquity. They have decided to supplant my steps.
6 Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.	6 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me. And they have stretched out cords for a snare. They have placed a stumbling block for me near the road.
7 Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee?	7 I said to the Lord: You are my God. O Lord, heed the voice of my supplication.
8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.	8 Lord, O Lord, the strength of my salvation: you have overshadowed my head in the day of war.
9 If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea,	9 O Lord, do not hand me over to the sinner by my desire. They have plotted against me. Do not abandon me, lest they should triumph.
10 Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.	10 The head of those who encompass me, the labor of their lips, will overwhelm them.
11 If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --	11 Burning coals will fall upon them. You will cast them down into the fire, into miseries that they will not be able to withstand.
12 Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.	12 A talkative man will not be guided aright upon the earth. Evils will drag the unjust man unto utter ruin.
13 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.	13 I know that the Lord will accomplish justice for the needy and vindication for the poor.
14 I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;	14 So then, truly, the just will confess your name, and the upright will dwell with your countenance.
15 my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
18 Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
19 If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me!
20 Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths.
21 Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe?
22 With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own.
23 Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns.
24 See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.