Psalm 139 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

You know when I sit down and when I stand up;

you understand my thoughts from far away.

You observe my travels and my rest;

you are aware of all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue,

you know all about it, LORD.

You have encircled me;

you have placed your hand on me.

This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.

It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.

Where can I go to escape your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I fly on the wings of the dawn

and settle down on the western horizon,[fn]

even there your hand will lead me;

your right hand will hold on to me.

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

and the light around me will be night” —

even the darkness is not dark to you.

The night shines like the day;

darkness and light are alike to you.

For it was you who created my inward parts;[fn]

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I will praise you

because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.[fn][fn]

Your works are wondrous,

and I know this very well.

My bones were not hidden from you

when I was made in secret,

when I was formed in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw me when I was formless;

all my days were written in your book and planned

before a single one of them began.

God, how precious[fn] your thoughts are to me;

how vast their sum is!

If I counted them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand;

when I wake up,[fn] I am still with you.

God, if only you would kill the wicked —

you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me —

who invoke you deceitfully.

Your enemies swear by you falsely.

LORD, don’t I hate those who hate you,

and detest those who rebel against you?

I hate them with extreme hatred;

I consider them my enemies.

Search me, God, and know my heart;

test me and know my concerns.

See if there is any offensive[fn] way in me;

lead me in the everlasting way.