# Psalms 139.16 **Book:** [Psalms](/codex/psalms/) · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 14. I will give thanks unto thee; For I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well. 15. My frame was not hidden from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. > > **16. Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.** > > 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: When I awake, I am still with thee. (Psalms 139:14-18, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 14. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. 15. My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth. > > **16. Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.** > > 17. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum! 18. If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you. (Psalms 139:14-18, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 14. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. right: Heb. greatly 15. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. substance: or, strength, or, body > > **16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. all: Heb. all of them which: or, what days they should be fashioned** > > 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. (Psalms 139:14-18, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 14. I confess Thee, because that [with] wonders I have been distinguished. Wonderful [are] Thy works, And my soul is knowing [it] well. 15. My substance was not hid from Thee, When I was made in secret, Curiously wrought in the lower part of earth. > > **16. Mine unformed substance Thine eyes saw, And on Thy book all of them are written, The days they were formed, And not one among them.** > > 17. And to me how precious have been Thy thoughts, O God, how great hath been their sum! 18. I recount them! than the sand they are more, I have waked, and I am still with Thee. (Psalms 139:14-18, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** various (David majority; Asaph, Korah, Moses, Solomon, anonymous) - **Audience:** worshipping Israel (corporate + individual devotion) - **Location:** Israel, various periods - **Time period:** composition spans c. 1400 BC (Moses, Ps 90), c. 400 BC; principal Davidic composition c. 1000 BC ## Theological reading ## Key words - [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/), *echad* (Strong's H259). Also appears in: [Genesis 2.24](/codex/genesis-2-24/), [Genesis 3](/codex/genesis-3/), [Genesis 10.25](/codex/genesis-10-25/). ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses. ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Anselms Four-Dimensionalist Eternity](/codex/anselms-four-dimensionalist-eternity/) - [Argument from Irrevocability](/codex/argument-from-irrevocability/) - [Argument from Origin of Life](/codex/argument-from-origin-of-life/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Argument from Personal Identity](/codex/argument-from-the-memory-continuity-convergence/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Argument from the Information-Conservation Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-information-conservation-convergence/) - [Argument from the Memory-Continuity Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-memory-continuity-convergence/), via [Psalms 139](/codex/psalms-139/), [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/), [Psalms 139.15-16](/codex/psalms-139-15-16/) - [Atheism Cannot Justify Compassion](/codex/atheism-cannot-justify-compassion/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Chirality Argument](/codex/chirality-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Edge of Evolution Argument](/codex/edge-of-evolution-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Harm-Reduction Cannot Ground Morality (Defeater)](/codex/harm-reduction-cannot-ground-morality-defeater/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Information Argument](/codex/information-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Interdependency Argument](/codex/interdependency-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Irreducible Complexity Argument](/codex/interdependency-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Molecular Machines Argument](/codex/molecular-machines-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Orphan Genes Argument](/codex/orphan-genes-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Protein Sequence Space Argument](/codex/protein-sequence-space-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Signature in the Cell Argument](/codex/signature-in-the-cell-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Specified Complexity Argument](/codex/specified-complexity-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Universal Probability Bound](/codex/universal-probability-bound/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) **Concepts:** - [Abortion](/codex/abortion/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Genetic Code](/codex/genetic-code/) - [Irreducible Complexity](/codex/irreducible-complexity/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Laws of the Universe as Witness to Design](/codex/laws-of-the-universe-as-witness-to-design/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Orphan Genes](/codex/orphan-genes/) - [Pro-Life Premise-Based Argument](/codex/pro-life-premise-based-argument/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Soul and Spirit, Origin and Awareness](/codex/soul-and-spirit-origin-and-awareness/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/) - [Verses on Gods Goodness and Human Worth](/codex/verses-on-gods-goodness-and-human-worth/), via [Psalms 139.13-16](/codex/psalms-139-13-16/)