Psalmorum 139
1 In finem, Psalmus David. Domine probasti me, et cognovisti me:
To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. O Lord, you have knowledge of me, searching out all my secrets.
2 tu cognovisti sessionem meam, et resurrectionem meam.
You have knowledge when I am seated and when I get up, you see my thoughts from far away.
3 Intellexisti cogitationes meas de longe: semitam meam, et funiculum meum investigasti.
You keep watch over my steps and my sleep, and have knowledge of all my ways.
4 Et omnes vias meas prævidisti: quia non est sermo in lingua mea.
For there is not a word on my tongue which is not clear to you, O Lord.
5 Ecce Domine tu cognovisti omnia novissima, et antiqua: tu formasti me, et posuisti super me manum tuam.
I am shut in by you on every side, and you have put your hand on me.
6 Mirabilis facta est scientia tua ex me: confortata est, et non potero ad eam.
Such knowledge is a wonder greater than my powers; it is so high that I may not come near it.
7 Quo ibo a Spiritu tuo? et quo a facie tua fugiam?
Where may I go from your spirit? how may I go in flight from you?
If I go up to heaven, you are there: or if I make my bed in the underworld, you are there. (Sheol h7585)
9 Si sumpsero pennas meas diluculo, et habitavero in extremis maris:
If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;
10 Etenim illuc manus tua deducet me: et tenebit me dextera tua.
Even there will I be guided by your hand, and your right hand will keep me.
11 Et dixi: Forsitan tenebræ conculcabunt me: et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.
If I say, Only let me be covered by the dark, and the light about me be night;
12 Quia tenebræ non obscurabuntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminabitur: sicut tenebræ eius, ita et lumen eius.
Even the dark is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day: for dark and light are the same to you.
13 Quia tu possedisti renes meos: suscepisti me de utero matris meæ.
My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body.
14 Confitebor tibi quia terribiliter magnificatus es: mirabilia opera tua, et anima mea cognoscit nimis.
I will give you praise, for I am strangely and delicately formed; your works are great wonders, and of this my soul is fully conscious.
15 Non est occultatum os meum a te, quod fecisti in occulto: et substantia mea in inferioribus terræ.
My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Imperfectum meum viderunt oculi tui, et in libro tuo omnes scribentur: dies formabuntur, et nemo in eis.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book all my days were recorded, even those which were purposed before they had come into being.
17 Mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici tui, Deus: nimis confortatus est principatus eorum.
How dear are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the number of them!
18 Dinumerabo eos, et super arenam multiplicabuntur: exurrexi, et adhuc sum tecum.
If I made up their number, it would be more than the grains of sand; when I am awake, I am still with you.
19 Si occideris Deus peccatores: viri sanguinum declinate a me:
If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood.
20 Quia dicitis in cogitatione: accipient in vanitate civitates tuas.
For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.
21 Nonne qui oderunt te Domine, oderam: et super inimicos tuos tabescebam?
Are not your haters hated by me, O Lord? are not those who are lifted up against you a cause of grief to me?
22 Perfecto odio oderam illos: et inimici facti sunt mihi.
My hate for them is complete; my thoughts of them are as if they were making war on me.
23 Proba me Deus, et scito cor meum: interroga me, et cognosce semitas meas.
O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested:
24 Et vide, si via iniquitatis in me est: et deduc me in via æterna.
See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.
