Psalm 139 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

Psa 139:1

Psa 139:1To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

Psa 139:2

Psa 139:2You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.

Psa 139:3

Psa 139:3You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.

Psa 139:4

Psa 139:4Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

Psa 139:5

Psa 139:5You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.

Psa 139:6

Psa 139:6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Psa 139:7

Psa 139:7Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?

Psa 139:8

Psa 139:8If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

Psa 139:9

Psa 139:9If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Psa 139:10

Psa 139:10even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.

Psa 139:11

Psa 139:11If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”

Psa 139:12

Psa 139:12even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

Psa 139:13

Psa 139:13For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

Psa 139:14

Psa 139:14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[fn]
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.

Psa 139:15

Psa 139:15My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Psa 139:16

Psa 139:16Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Psa 139:17

Psa 139:17How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

Psa 139:18

Psa 139:18If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Psa 139:19

Psa 139:19Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!

Psa 139:20

Psa 139:20They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.[fn]

Psa 139:21

Psa 139:21Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

Psa 139:22

Psa 139:22I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Psa 139:23

Psa 139:23Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts![fn]

Psa 139:24

Psa 139:24And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting![fn]

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(139:14)

Or for I am fearfully set apart

(139:20)

Hebrew lacks your name

(139:23)

Or cares

(139:24)

Or in the ancient way (compare Jeremiah 6:16)

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.