Psalms 139

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

1LORD, you have looked deep inside me. You know me completely.

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 know my thoughts, even from far away.

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

3You watch the path I walk and the place I lie down. You know everything I do.

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

4Before I even say a word, LORD, you already know all of it.

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

5You are behind me and in front of me. You have put your hand on me.

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

6Knowing that much is too wonderful for me. It is too high for me to reach.

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 from you?

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

8If I climbed up to the heavens, you are there. If I made my bed among the dead, you are there too.

NoteThe KJV says "hell" here. The old word is Sheol. It simply means the place of the dead, deep down below.

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

9If I flew away on the wings of the morning, and lived far across 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.

11I might say, "The dark will hide me. The light around me will turn into night."

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

12But the dark is not dark to you. Night shines like day for you. 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 the deepest part of me. You put me together inside my mother.

NoteThe KJV says "my reins," an old word for the kidneys. Long ago people used it to mean the deepest, most hidden part of a person.

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 you made me in a wonderful way. Everything you make is amazing. I know that very well.

Note"Fearfully made" does not mean scary. It means made in a way that fills people with wonder.

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

15You could see my body when no one else could. I was made in a hidden place, deep and unseen.

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 my body was finished. You wrote all my days in your book before even one of them began.

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, there would be more than 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 wish you would put an end to wicked people. Get away from me, you men who 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 a false way.

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 the people who hate you? Aren't I upset with those who fight against you?

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

22I hate them completely. 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 the things I worry about.

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

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