PSALM 139
1 To victory, the psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me, and hast known me; (For the choirmaster, a song by David. Lord, thou hast assayed, or tested, me, and thou knowest me;)
2 thou hast known my sitting, and my rising again. Thou hast understood my thoughts from [a] far; (thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up. Thou hast understood my thoughts from afar;)
3 thou hast inquired (of) my path and my cord. And thou hast before-seen all my ways; (thou hast examined my path, and my resting places. And thou hast foreseen all my ways.)
4 for no word is in my tongue. Lo! Lord, thou hast known all things, (Yea, there is no word on my tongue, behold! Lord; but that thou not knowest it first.)
5 the new things and eld; thou hast formed me, and hast set thine hand on me. (Thou art behind me, and before me; and thou hast set thy hand upon me.)
6 Thy knowing is made wonderful of me; it is comforted, and I shall not be able to it. (Thy abundant knowledge is so wonderful to me; yea, it is so very great, and I shall never be able to comprehend it all.)
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit; and whither shall I flee from thy face? (Where shall I go from thy spirit; and where shall I flee from thy presence?)
8 If I shall ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I shall go down into hell, thou art present. (If I shall go up into heaven, thou art there; if I shall go down into Sheol, or into the land of the dead, thou art there also.)
9 If I shall take my feathers full early; and shall dwell in the last parts of the sea. (If I shall take flight early in the morning; or if I shall live on the farthest edge, or the coast, of the sea.)
10 And soothly thither thine hand shall lead me forth; and thy right hand shall hold me. (Even there thy hand shall lead me forth; and thy right hand shall keep me safe.)
11 And I said, In hap darknesses shall defoul me; and the night is my lightening in my delights. (And I said, Perhaps the darkness shall cover me; or the light all around me shall become my night.)
12 For why darknesses shall not be made dark from thee, and the night shall be lightened as the day; as the darknesses thereof, so and the light thereof. (But the darkness shall not be dark for thee, and the night shall be like the daylight; yea, to you, the darkness is no different than the light.)
13 For thou haddest in possession my reins; thou tookest me up from the womb of my mother. (For thou haddest my reins in thy possession or For thou formedest my inner parts; yea, thou madest me in my mother’s womb.)
14 I shall acknowledge to thee, for thou art magnified dreadfully; thy works be wonderful, and my soul shall know (that) full much. (I shall praise thee, for thou art greatly to be feared or for thou hath filled me with awe; thy works be wonderful, and I truly know that.)
15 My bone, which thou madest in private, is not hid from thee; and my substance (formed) in the lower parts of earth. (My bones, which thou madest in secret, be not a mystery to thee; yea, when my substance was formed in the lower parts of the earth.)
16 Thine eyes saw mine unperfect thing, and all men shall be written in thy book; days shall be formed, and no man is in those. (Thine eyes saw my imperfect substance, and all was written in thy Book; but when those days were formed, no man was there.)
17 Forsooth, God, thy friends be made honourable full much to me; the princehood of them is comforted full much. (But, God, how deep be thy thoughts to me; and how many of them there be!)
18 I shall number them, and they shall be multiplied above the gravel; I rose up, and yet I am with thee. (If I tried to count them all up, their number would be more than all the grains of sand. And then I awake; and still I am with thee.)
19 For thou, God, shalt slay sinners; ye men-quellers, bow away from me. (O God, I wish that thou wouldest kill the sinners; ye murderers, go far away from me!)
20 For they say in thought; Take they their cities in vanity. (For out loud they say against thee, We shall take thy name in vain.)
21 Lord, whether I hated not them that hated thee; and I failed, that is, mourned greatly, on (those who be) thine enemies? (Lord, how I hate those who hate thee; and I am greatly grieved by those who be thy enemies!)
22 By perfect hatred I hated them; they were made enemies to me. (Yea, with perfect hatred I hate them; they be made my enemies too.)
23 God, prove thou me, and know thou mine heart; ask thou me, and know thou my paths. (God, assay, or test, thou me, and know thou my heart; ask thou me, and know thou my thoughts.)
24 And see thou, if way of wickedness is in me; and lead thou me forth in [the] everlasting way. (And see thou, if there be found any way of wickedness in me; and then lead thou me forth in the everlasting way.)