Psalms 139

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 [For the choirmaster Of David Psalm] Yahweh, you examine me and know me,	1 For the leader. A psalm of David. O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
2 you know when I sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from afar.	2 you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
3 You watch when I walk or lie down, you know every detail of my conduct.	3 My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar.
4 A word is not yet on my tongue before you, Yahweh, know all about it.	4 Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all.
5 You fence me in, behind and in front, you have laid your hand upon me.	5 Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.
6 Such amazing knowledge is beyond me, a height to which I cannot attain.	6 Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.
7 Where shall I go to escape your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence?	7 Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee?
8 If I scale the heavens you are there, if I lie flat in Sheol, there you are.	8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.
9 If I speed away on the wings of the dawn, if I dwel beyond the ocean,	9 If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea,
10 even there your hand will be guiding me, your right hand holding me fast.	10 Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.
11 I will say, 'Let the darkness cover me, and the night wrap itself around me,'	11 If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --
12 even darkness to you is not dark, and night is as clear as the day.	12 Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.
13 You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother's womb.	13 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
14 For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and al your works are wonders. You knew methrough and through,	14 I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
15 my being held no secrets from you, when I was being formed in secret, textured in the depths of theearth.	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 could see my embryo. In your book all my days were inscribed, every one that was fixedis there.	16 Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
17 How hard for me to grasp your thoughts, how many, God, there are!	17 How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
18 If I count them, they are more than the grains of sand; if I come to an end, I am stil with you.	18 Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.
19 If only, God, you would kil the wicked!-Men of violence, keep away from me!-	19 If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me!
20 those who speak blasphemously about you, and take no account of your thoughts.	20 Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths.
21 Yahweh, do I not hate those who hate you, and loathe those who defy you?	21 Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe?
22 My hate for them has no limits, I regard them as my own enemies.	22 With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own.
23 God, examine me and know my heart, test me and know my concerns.	23 Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns.
24 Make sure that I am not on my way to ruin, and guide me on the road of eternity.	24 See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.