Psalm 139-144

English Standard Version

^7 (I)Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where ^(J)shall I flee from your presence?
^8 (K)If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    ^(L)If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall ^(M)lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, ^(N)“Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
^12 (O)even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

¹³ For you ^(P)formed my inward parts;
    you ^(Q)knitted me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.^[a]
(R)Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
^15 (S)My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in ^(T)the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your ^(U)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 your ^(V)thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
^18 (W)If I would count them, they are more than ^(X)the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.

¹⁹ Oh that you would ^(Y)slay the wicked, O God!
    O ^(Z)men of blood, ^(AA)depart from me!
²⁰ They ^(AB)speak against you with malicious intent;
    your enemies ^(AC)take your name in vain.^[b]
21 (AD)Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not ^(AE)loathe those who ^(AF)rise up against you?
²² I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    ^(AG)Try me and know my thoughts!^[c]
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and ^(AH)lead me in ^(AI)the way everlasting!^[d]

⁴ Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
    preserve me from ^(AQ)violent men,
    who have planned to trip up my feet.
⁵ The arrogant have ^(AR)hidden a trap for me,
    and with cords they have spread ^(AS)a net;^[e]
    beside the way they have set ^(AT)snares for me. Selah

^6 (AU)I say to the Lord, You are my God;
    give ear to ^(AV)the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!
⁷ O Lord, my Lord, ^(AW)the strength of my salvation,
    you have covered my head in the day of battle.
^8 (AX)Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
    do not further their^[f] evil plot, or ^(AY)they will be exalted! Selah

⁹ As for the head of those who surround me,
    let ^(AZ)the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
¹⁰ Let ^(BA)burning coals fall upon them!
    Let them be cast into fire,
    into miry pits, no more to rise!
¹¹ Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
    let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

¹² I know that the Lord will ^(BB)maintain the cause of the afflicted,
    and ^(BC)will execute justice for the needy.
¹³ Surely ^(BD)the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
    ^(BE)the upright shall dwell in your presence.

^3 (BJ)Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
    ^(BK)keep watch over the door of my lips!
^4 (BL)Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
    to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who ^(BM)work iniquity,
    and ^(BN)let me not eat of their delicacies!

^5 (BO)Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
    let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;
    let my head not refuse it.
Yet ^(BP)my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
⁶ When their judges are ^(BQ)thrown over the cliff,^[g]
    then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.
⁷ As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
    so shall our bones ^(BR)be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.^[h]

⁸ But ^(BS)my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;
    ^(BT)in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!^[i]
9 Keep me from ^(BU)the trap that they have laid for me
    and from the snares of evildoers!
¹⁰ Let the wicked ^(BV)fall into their own nets,
    while I pass by safely.

³ When my spirit ^(CA)faints within me,
    you know my way!
In the path where I walk
    they have ^(CB)hidden a trap for me.
^4 (CC)Look to the ^(CD)right and see:
    ^(CE)there is none who takes notice of me;
^(CF)no refuge remains to me;
    no one cares for my soul.

⁵ I cry to you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my ^(CG)refuge,
    my ^(CH)portion in ^(CI)the land of the living.”
^6 (CJ)Attend to my cry,
    for ^(CK)I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
    ^(CL)for they are too strong for me!
^7 (CM)Bring me out of prison,
    that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
    for you will ^(CN)deal bountifully with me.

³ For the enemy has pursued my soul;
    ^(CT)he has crushed my life to the ground;
    ^(CU)he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
⁴ Therefore my spirit ^(CV)faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.

^5 (CW)I remember the days of old;
    ^(CX)I meditate on all that you have done;
    I ponder the work of your hands.
^6 (CY)I stretch out my hands to you;
    ^(CZ)my soul thirsts for you like ^(DA)a parched land. Selah

^7 (DB)Answer me quickly, O Lord!
    ^(DC)My spirit fails!
^(DD)Hide not your face from me,
    ^(DE)lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
^8 (DF)Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
    for in you I ^(DG)trust.
^(DH)Make me know the way I should go,
    ^(DI)for to you I lift up my soul.

^9 (DJ)Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
    I have fled to you for refuge.^[k]
10 (DK)Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God!
^(DL)Let your good Spirit ^(DM)lead me
    on ^(DN)level ground!

^11 (DO)For your name's sake, O Lord, ^(DP)preserve my life!
    In your righteousness ^(DQ)bring my soul out of trouble!
¹² And in your steadfast love you will ^(DR)cut off my enemies,
    and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
    for I am your ^(DS)servant.

³ O Lord, ^(EA)what is man that you ^(EB)regard him,
    or the son of man that you think of him?
^4 (EC)Man is like a breath;
    his days are like ^(ED)a passing ^(EE)shadow.

^5 (EF)Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
    ^(EG)Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
^6 (EH)Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
    ^(EI)send out your arrows and rout them!
^7 (EJ)Stretch out your hand from on high;
    ^(EK)rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
    from the hand ^(EL)of foreigners,
⁸ whose mouths speak ^(EM)lies
    and whose right hand is ^(EN)a right hand of falsehood.

⁹ I will sing ^(EO)a new song to you, O God;
    upon ^(EP)a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
¹⁰ who gives victory to kings,
    who ^(EQ)rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
¹¹ Rescue me and deliver me
    from the hand ^(ER)of foreigners,
whose mouths speak ^(ES)lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

¹² May our sons in their youth
    be like ^(ET)plants full grown,
our daughters like ^(EU)corner pillars
    cut for the structure of a palace;
^13 (EV)may our granaries be full,
    ^(EW)providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
    and ten thousands in our fields;
¹⁴ may our cattle be heavy with young,
    suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;^[m]
may there be no ^(EX)cry of distress in our streets!
^15 (EY)Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
    ^(EZ)Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!