Passage

Psalms 139

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. 3. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, And laid thy hand upon me. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there. 9. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me. 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, And the light about me shall be night; 12. Even the darkness hideth not from thee, But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 13. For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother's womb. 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. 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: Depart from me therefore, ye bloodthirsty men. 20. For they speak against thee wickedly, And thine enemies take thy name in vain. 21. Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22. I hate them with perfect hatred: They are become mine enemies. 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts; 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalms 139:1-24, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. 2. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4. For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether. 5. You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me. 6. This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it. 7. Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? 8. If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! 9. If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10. Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me. 11. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night”; 12. even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you. 13. For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 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. 19. If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20. For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain. 21. Yahweh, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you? 22. I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies. 23. Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. 24. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." (Psalms 139:1-24, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. ^{compassest: or, winnowest} 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. ^{hideth: Heb. darkeneth not} ^{the darkness and: Heb. as is the darkness, so is the light} 13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. 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. 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 20. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. 21. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22. I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ^{wicked: Heb. way of pain, or, grief}" (Psalms 139:1-24, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. To the Overseer., A Psalm by David. Jehovah, Thou hast searched me, and knowest. 2. Thou, Thou hast known my sitting down, And my rising up, Thou hast attended to my thoughts from afar. 3. My path and my couch Thou hast fanned, And [with] all my ways hast been acquainted. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, Lo, O Jehovah, Thou hast known it all! 5. Behind and before Thou hast besieged me, And Thou dost place on me Thy hand. 6. Knowledge too wonderful for me, It hath been set on high, I am not able for it. 7. Whither do I go from Thy Spirit? And whither from Thy face do I flee? 8. If I ascend the heavens, there Thou [art], And spread out a couch in Sheol, lo, Thee! 9. I take the wings of morning, I dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, 10. Also there Thy hand doth lead me, And Thy right hand doth hold me. 11. And I say, 'Surely darkness bruiseth me, Then night [is] light to me. 12. Also darkness hideth not from Thee, And night as day shineth, as [is] darkness so [is] light. 13. For Thou, Thou hast possessed my reins, Thou dost cover me in my mother's belly. 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. 19. Dost Thou slay, O God, the wicked? Then, men of blood, turn aside from me! 20. Who exchange Thee for wickedness, Lifted up to vanity [are] Thine enemies. 21. Do not I hate, Jehovah, those hating Thee? And with Thy withstanders grieve myself? 22. [With] perfect hatred I have hated them, Enemies they have become to me. 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart, Try me, and know my thoughts, 24. And see if a grievous way be in me, And lead me in a way age-during!" (Psalms 139:1-24, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.