Psalmorum 139
1 In finem, psalmus David. [Domine, probasti me, et cognovisti me;
For the leader. Of David, a psalm. O Lord, you search and know me;
2 tu cognovisti sessionem meam et resurrectionem meam.
when I sit, when I rise you know it, you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 Intellexisti cogitationes meas de longe; semitam meam et funiculum meum investigasti:
When I walk, when I lie you sift it, familiar with all my ways.
4 et omnes vias meas prævidisti, quia non est sermo in lingua mea.
There is not a word on my tongue, but see! Lord, you know it all.
5 Ecce, Domine, tu cognovisti omnia, novissima et antiqua. Tu formasti me, et posuisti super me manum tuam.
Behind and before you beset me, upon me you lay your hand.
6 Mirabilis facta est scientia tua ex me; confortata est, et non potero ad eam.
It’s too wonderful for me to know too lofty I cannot attain it.
7 Quo ibo a spiritu tuo? et quo a facie tua fugiam?
Whither shall I go from your spirit? Or whither shall I flee from your face?
If I climb up to heaven, you are there: or make Sheol my bed, you are there. (Sheol h7585)
9 Si sumpsero pennas meas diluculo, et habitavero in extremis maris,
If I lift up the wings of the morning and fly to the end of the sea,
10 etenim illuc manus tua deducet me, et tenebit me dextera tua.
there also your hand would grasp me, and your right hand take hold of me.
11 Et dixi: Forsitan tenebræ conculcabunt me; et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.
If I say, ‘Let the darkness cover me, and night be the light about me,’
12 Quia tenebræ non obscurabuntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminabitur: sicut tenebræ ejus, ita et lumen ejus.
The dark is not dark for you, but night is as light as the day.
13 Quia tu possedisti renes meos; suscepisti me de utero matris meæ.
For you did put me together; in my mother’s womb you did weave me.
14 Confitebor tibi, quia terribiliter magnificatus es; mirabilia opera tua, et anima mea cognoscit nimis.
I give you praise for my fashioning so full of awe, so wonderful. Your works are wonderful. You knew me right well;
15 Non est occultatum os meum a te, quod fecisti in occulto; et substantia mea in inferioribus terræ.
my bones were not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, and woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Imperfectum meum viderunt oculi tui, et in libro tuo omnes scribentur. Dies formabuntur, et nemo in eis.
Your eyes saw all my days: they stood on your book every one written down, before they were fashioned, while none of them yet was mine.
17 Mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici tui, Deus; nimis confortatus est principatus eorum.
But how far, O God, beyond measure are your thoughts! How mighty their sum!
18 Dinumerabo eos, et super arenam multiplicabuntur. Exsurrexi, et adhuc sum tecum.
Should I count, they are more than the sand. When I wake, I am still with you.
19 Si occideris, Deus, peccatores, viri sanguinum, declinate a me:
Will you slay the wicked, O God? And remove from me the bloodthirsty,
20 quia dicitis in cogitatione: Accipient in vanitate civitates tuas.
who maliciously defy you and take your name in vain.
21 Nonne qui oderunt te, Domine, oderam, et super inimicos tuos tabescebam?
Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord? Do I not loathe those who resist you?
22 Perfecto odio oderam illos, et inimici facti sunt mihi.
With perfect hatred I hate them, I count them my enemies.
23 Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum; interroga me, et cognosce semitas meas.
Search me, O God, know my heart: test me, and know my thoughts,
24 Et vide si via iniquitatis in me est, et deduc me in via æterna.]
and see if guile be in me; and lead me in the way everlasting.
