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Psalm 139 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.

Psa 139:1

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.

Psa 139:2

You know when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do];

You understand my thought from afar.

Psa 139:3

You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Psa 139:4

Even before there is a word on my tongue [still unspoken],

Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

Psa 139:5

You have enclosed me behind and before,

And [You have] placed Your hand upon me.

Psa 139:6

Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.

Psa 139:7

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Psa 139:8

If I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, You are there.

Psa 139:9

If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Psa 139:10

Even there Your hand will lead me,

And Your right hand will take hold of me.

Psa 139:11

If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,

And the night will be the only light around me,”

Psa 139:12

Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You,

But the night shines as bright as the day;

Darkness and light are alike to You.

Psa 139:13

For You formed my innermost parts;

You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.

Psa 139:14

I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works,

And my soul knows it very well.

Psa 139:15

My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was being formed in secret,

And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.

Psa 139:16

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were appointed for me,

When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].

Psa 139:17

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Psa 139:18

If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.

When I awake, I am still with You.

Psa 139:19

[fn]O that You would kill the wicked, O God;

Go away from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

Psa 139:20

For they speak against You wickedly,

Your enemies take Your name in vain.

Psa 139:21

Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

Psa 139:22

I hate them with perfect and utmost hatred;

They have become my enemies.

Psa 139:23

Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;

Test me and know my anxious thoughts;

Psa 139:24

And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

AMP Footnotes
In the first eighteen verses of this psalm, the psalmist acknowledges that God knows everything that the psalmist ever does, no matter when or where he does it. Although God’s vast knowledge of an individual’s deeds can be reassuring for the righteous, it should be frightening for the wicked. In verses 19-24, the psalmist distances himself from the wicked and asks God to help him live in such a way that pleases God.
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Psalm Chapter 139 — Additional Translations: