Psalm 139

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁷ Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
    Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there thy hand shall lead me,
    and thy right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Let only darkness cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to thee,
    the night is bright as the day;
    for darkness is as light with thee.

¹³ For thou didst form my inward parts,
    thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.^[a]
    Wonderful are thy works!
Thou knowest me right well;
¹⁵     my frame was not hidden from thee,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;
    in thy book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
¹⁷ How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    When I awake, I am still with thee.^[b]

¹⁹ O that thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God,
    and that men of blood would depart from me,
²⁰ men who maliciously defy thee,
    who lift themselves up against thee for evil!^[c]
21 Do I not hate them that hate thee, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?
²² I hate them with perfect hatred;
    I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!
²⁴ And see if there be any wicked^[d] way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!^[e]