Psalm 139

The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

Lord, you have searched me and known me.(A)
You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
you understand my thoughts from far away.(B)
You observe my travels and my rest;
you are aware of all my ways.(C)
Before a word is on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord.(D)
You have encircled me;
you have placed your hand on me.(E)
This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.(F)

Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?(G)
If I go up to heaven, you are there;(H)
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.(I)
If I fly on the wings of the dawn
and settle down on the western horizon,[a]
10 even there your hand will lead me;
your right hand will hold on to me.(J)
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night”(K)
12 even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to you.(L)

13 For it was you who created my inward parts;[b]
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.(M)
14 I will praise you
because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.[c][d]
Your works are wondrous,
and I know this very well.(N)
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.(O)
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in your book and planned
before a single one of them began.(P)

17 God, how precious[e] your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
18 If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;(Q)
when I wake up,[f] I am still with you.(R)

19 God, if only you would kill the wicked—
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me(S)
20 who invoke you deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by you falsely.(T)
21 Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you,
and detest those who rebel against you?
22 I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies.(U)

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.(V)
24 See if there is any offensive[g] way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.(W)

Footnotes

  1. 139:9 Lit the end of the sea
  2. 139:13 Lit my kidneys
  3. 139:14 DSS, some LXX mss, Syr, Jer read because you are remarkable and wonderful
  4. 139:14 Hb obscure
  5. 139:17 Or difficult
  6. 139:18 Some Hb mss read I come to an end
  7. 139:24 Or idolatrous

25 Good news from a distant land
is like cold water to a parched throat.[a](A)

26 A righteous person who yields to the wicked(B)
is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 25:25 Or a weary person

Jesus before Pilate

28 Then(A) they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters.(B) It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

29 So Pilate(C) came out to them and said, “What charge(D) do you bring against this man?”

30 They answered him, “If this man weren’t a criminal,[a] we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”

31 Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.”

“It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared. 32 They said this so that Jesus’s words might be fulfilled indicating what kind of death he was going to die.(E)

33 Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (F)

34 Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”

35 “I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

36 “My kingdom(G) is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world,(H) my servants(I) would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is,[b] my kingdom is not from here.”(J)

37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked.

“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world(K) for this: to testify(L) to the truth.(M) Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

38 “What is truth?” said Pilate.

Jesus or Barabbas

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds(N) for charging him. 39 You(O) have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”

40 They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (P) Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.[c](Q)

Jesus Flogged and Mocked

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers also twisted together a crown(R) of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. And they kept coming up to him(S) and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.

Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds(T) for charging him.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.(U) Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” (V)

Pilate Sentences Jesus to Death

When the chief priests and the temple servants[d] saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”

“We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die,(W) because he made himself the Son of God.”(X)

When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. He went back into the headquarters(Y) and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.(Z) 10 So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

11 “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”(AA)

12 From that moment Pilate kept trying[e] to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”

13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Aramaic,[f] Gabbatha). 14 It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.[g] Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”

15 They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

16 Then he handed him over to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

Then they took Jesus away.[h]

Footnotes

  1. 18:30 Lit an evil doer
  2. 18:36 Or But now
  3. 18:40 Or robber; see Jn 10:1,8 for the same Gk word used here
  4. 19:6 Or temple police, or officers
  5. 19:12 Lit Pilate was trying
  6. 19:13 Or Hebrew, also in vv. 17,20
  7. 19:14 Lit about the sixth hour
  8. 19:16 Other mss add and led him out

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