Psalms

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

1LORD, you have looked deep into me, and you know me.

2Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

2You know when I sit down and when I stand up. You understand what I am thinking, even from far away.

3Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

3You watch where I go and where I lie down. You know everything about the way I live.

4For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

4Before a word is even on my tongue, LORD, you already know it completely.

5Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

5You surround me, behind me and in front of me. You have laid your hand on me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

6Knowing all of that is too wonderful for me. It is far above me, and I cannot reach it.

7Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

7Where could I go to get away from your Spirit? Where could I run to escape from you?

8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

8If I climb up to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed among the dead, you are there too.

Note"Hell" here translates a Hebrew word that means the place of the dead, the deepest place a person could imagine going. The verse is naming the lowest spot, opposite of heaven.

9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

9If I could fly on the wings of the morning and live at the far edge of the sea,

10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

10even there your hand would lead me. Your strong right hand would hold on to me.

11If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

11If I say, "Surely the dark will cover me," even the night will shine like light around me.

12Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

12The dark is not dark to you. The night shines like the day. Dark and light are the same to you.

13For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

13You made everything inside me. You put me together in my mother's body.

NoteThe KJV word "reins" means the kidneys. Old writers used it for a person's innermost self, the part nobody else can see.

14I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

14I praise you, because I was made in a way that fills me with wonder. Your works are amazing, and I know that well.

15My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

15You saw my body while it was being made. I was made in secret, woven together deep down and out of sight.

16Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

16Your eyes saw me before I was finished. Every one of my days was written in your book before a single one had happened.

NoteThe KJV says God saw the writer's "substance, yet being unperfect," meaning his body before it was finished. The list written in God's book is understood to be the days of his life.

17How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

17God, your thoughts are precious to me. There are so many of them!

18If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

18If I tried to count them, they would be more than all the grains of sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.

19Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

19God, I know you will put the wicked to death. Get away from me, you men who kill!

Note"Bloody men" does not mean men covered in blood. It means men who kill, or who are eager to kill.

20For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

20They say evil things about you. Your enemies use your name in false and empty ways.

21Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

21LORD, don't I hate those who hate you? Doesn't it hurt me to see people rise up against you?

22I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

22I hate them with a hatred that holds nothing back. I count them as my own enemies.

23Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

23Search me, God, and know my heart. Test me, and know what worries me.

24And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

24See if there is anything wrong in the way I live. Then lead me in the way that lasts forever.