Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 139 - New International Version (2024)

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹You have searched me,^(A) Lord,
and you know^(B) me.
²You know when I sit and when I rise;^(C)
you perceive my thoughts^(D) from afar.
³You discern my going out^(E) and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.^(F)
4Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.^(G)
5You hem me in^(H) behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,^(I)
too lofty^(J) for me to attain.

⁷Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee^(K) from your presence?
⁸If I go up to the heavens,^(L) you are there;
if I make my bed^(M) in the depths, you are there.
⁹If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand will guide me,^(N)
your right hand^(O) will hold me fast.
¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
¹²even the darkness will not be dark^(P) to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

¹³For you created my inmost being;^(Q)
you knit me together^(R) in my mother’s womb.^(S)
14I praise you^(T) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,^(U)
I know that full well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made^(V) in the secret place,
when I was woven together^(W) in the depths of the earth.^(X)
16Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained^(Y) for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a](Z) God!^(AA)
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸Were I to count them,^(AB)
they would outnumber the grains of sand^(AC)—
when I awake,^(AD) I am still with you.

¹⁹If only you, God, would slay the wicked!^(AE)
Away from me,^(AF) you who are bloodthirsty!^(AG)
20They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries^(AH) misuse your name.^(AI)
21Do I not hate those^(AJ) who hate you, Lord,
and abhor^(AK) those who are in rebellion against you?
²²I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.^(AL)
23Search me,^(AM) God, and know my heart;^(AN)
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴See if there is any offensive way^(AO) in me,
and lead me^(AP) in the way everlasting.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 139:17 Or How amazing are your thoughts concerning me

Cross references

1. Psalm 139:1 : S Ps 17:3; Ro 8:27
2. Psalm 139:1 : Ps 44:21
3. Psalm 139:2 : 2Ki 19:27
4. Psalm 139:2 : Ps 94:11; Pr 24:12; Jer 12:3
5. Psalm 139:3 : 2Ki 19:27
6. Psalm 139:3 : S Job 31:4
7. Psalm 139:4 : S Heb 4:13
8. Psalm 139:5 : S 1Sa 25:16; Ps 32:10; 34:7; 125:2
9. Psalm 139:6 : S Ps 131:1
10. Psalm 139:6 : Ro 11:33
11. Psalm 139:7 : Jer 23:24; Jnh 1:3
12. Psalm 139:8 : Dt 30:12-15; Am 9:2-3
13. Psalm 139:8 : Job 17:13
14. Psalm 139:10 : Ps 23:3
15. Psalm 139:10 : Ps 108:6; Isa 41:10
16. Psalm 139:12 : Job 34:22; Da 2:22
17. Psalm 139:13 : Ps 119:73
18. Psalm 139:13 : S Job 10:11
19. Psalm 139:13 : Isa 44:2, 24; 46:3; 49:5; Jer 1:5
20. Psalm 139:14 : Ps 119:164; 145:10
21. Psalm 139:14 : S Job 40:19
22. Psalm 139:15 : Ecc 11:5
23. Psalm 139:15 : S Job 10:11
24. Psalm 139:15 : S Ps 63:9
25. Psalm 139:16 : S Job 33:29; S Ps 90:12
26. Psalm 139:17 : S Ps 92:5
27. Psalm 139:17 : S Job 5:9
28. Psalm 139:18 : Ps 40:5
29. Psalm 139:18 : S Job 29:18
30. Psalm 139:18 : S Ps 3:5
31. Psalm 139:19 : Ps 5:6; Isa 11:4
32. Psalm 139:19 : S Ps 6:8
33. Psalm 139:19 : S Ps 59:2
34. Psalm 139:20 : S Ps 65:7
35. Psalm 139:20 : S Dt 5:11
36. Psalm 139:21 : 2Ch 19:2; Ps 31:6; 119:113
37. Psalm 139:21 : S Ps 26:5
38. Psalm 139:22 : Mt 5:43
39. Psalm 139:23 : Job 31:6
40. Psalm 139:23 : S 1Sa 16:7; S 1Ch 29:17; S Ps 7:9; Pr 17:3; Jer 11:20; S Rev 2:23
41. Psalm 139:24 : Jer 25:5; 36:3
42. Psalm 139:24 : Ps 5:8; 23:2; 143:10