Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee(A) from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens,(B) you are there;
    if I make my bed(C) in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,(D)
    your right hand(E) will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark(F) to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;(G)
    you knit me together(H) in my mother’s womb.(I)
14 I praise you(J) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,(K)
    I know that full well.

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(A)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
(B)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [a]Sheol, behold, (C)You are there.
If I take up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (D)lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (E)darkness will [b]overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even (F)darkness is not dark [c]to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(G)Darkness and light are alike to You.

13 For You (H)created my innermost parts;
You (I)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, because [d]I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
(J)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 139:8 I.e., the netherworld
  2. Psalm 139:11 Lit bruise; some commentators cover
  3. Psalm 139:12 Lit from
  4. Psalm 139:14 Some ancient versions You are fearfully wonderful

7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
    to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
    If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
    to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
    you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
    At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.

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I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
12     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

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Footnotes

  1. 139:8 Hebrew to Sheol.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

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.

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.

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