Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Knows Everything
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
139 Lord, you have ·examined [investigated; searched] me
and know all about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I ·get up [rise].
You ·know [understand] my thoughts ·before I think them [L from afar].
3 You ·know [L measure] ·where I go [L my path] and ·where I lie down [L my lying down].
You ·know [are familiar with] ·everything I do [L all my path].
4 Lord, even ·before I say a word [L when no word is on my tongue],
you already know ·it [L all of it].
5 You ·are all around me [L hem me in]—in front and in back—
and have put your hand on me.
6 Your knowledge is ·amazing [wonderful; or overwhelming] to me;
it is ·more than I can understand [too high/unattainable. I am not able to grasp it; Rom. 11:33].
7 Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?
Where can I ·run [flee] from you?
8 If I ·go [climb] up to the heavens, you are there.
If I ·lie down [spread out; make my bed] in ·the grave [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld], you are there.
9 If I rise with the ·sun in the east [L wings of the dawn]
and settle in the ·west beyond [L back of] the sea,
10 even there ·you [L your hand] would guide me.
With your right hand you would ·hold [grab; seize] me.
11 I could say, “The darkness will ·hide [cover] me.
Let the light around me turn into night.”
12 But even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night ·is as light as [shines like] the day;
darkness and light are the same to you.
23 God, ·examine [investigate; search; v. 1] me and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any ·bad thing [hurtful way] in me.
Lead me on the ·road to everlasting life [L everlasting/or ancient way].
21 “I will ·show [display] my glory [C manifest presence] among the nations. All the nations will see ·my power when I punish [L the judgment I executed and the hand I laid on] them. 22 From that time onward the ·people [L house] of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 The nations will know [L the house of] Israel ·was taken away captive [went into exile] because they sinned and were unfaithful to me. So I ·turned away [L hid my face] from them and handed them over to their enemies until all of them died ·in war [L by the sword]. 24 Because of their uncleanness [C ritual] and their ·sins [transgressions], I ·punished [dealt with] them and ·turned away [hid my face] from them.
25 “So this is what the Lord God says: Now I will ·bring the people of Jacob back from captivity [L restore the fortunes of Jacob], and I will have ·mercy [compassion] on the whole ·nation [L house] of Israel. I will ·not let them dishonor me [L be zealous/jealous for my holy name]. 26 The people will forget their shame and ·how they rejected [their unfaithfulness to] me when they live again in safety on their own land with no one to make them afraid. 27 I will bring the people back from ·other lands [the nations/peoples] and gather them from the lands of their enemies. So I will use my people to ·show many nations that I am holy [L display my holiness in the eyes of many nations.]. 28 Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into ·captivity [exile] among the nations, but then I ·brought them back [gathered them] to their own land, leaving no one behind. 29 I will not ·turn away [L hide my face] from them anymore, because I will put my ·Spirit [or spirit] into the ·people [L house] of Israel, says the Lord God [11:19; 36:26–27; 37:14].”
13 [L For] God made a promise to Abraham. And as there is no one greater than God, he ·used himself [vowed by his own name; L swore by himself] when he swore to Abraham, 14 saying, “I will ·surely [or greatly] bless you and ·give you many [greatly multiply your] descendants [Gen. 22:17].” 15 Abraham ·waited patiently for this to happen [persevered], and he received what God promised.
16 [L For] People always ·use the name of [L swear by] someone greater than themselves when they swear. The oath ·proves [is confirmation] that what they say is true, and this ·ends all arguing [or settles the dispute; C an oath by a higher authority is taken as a legal guarantee]. 17 God wanted to ·make very clear [demonstrate convincingly] to ·those who would get what he promised [L the heirs of the promise] that his ·purposes [or plans] never change, so he ·made [L confirmed/guaranteed it with] an oath. 18 These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things greatly encourage us, who ·came [L have fled] to God for safety, to hold on to the hope ·we have been given [L set before us]. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for ·the soul [our lives], ·sure [stable; secure] and ·strong [reliable; unshifting]. It enters behind the curtain in the ·Most Holy Place in heaven [L inner place/sanctuary], 20 where Jesus has gone ·ahead of us [L as a forerunner] ·and for us [on our behalf]. He has become the high priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek [Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10; 7:1–17].
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