1 O Lord, You have looked through me and have known me.

Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.

2 Y ou know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far away.

You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 Y ou look over my path and my lying down. You know all my ways very well.

You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 E ven before I speak a word, O Lord, You know it all.

For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.

5 Y ou have closed me in from behind and in front. And You have laid Your hand upon me.

You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.

6 A ll You know is too great for me. It is too much for me to understand.

This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.

7 W here can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I run away from where You are?

Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?

8 I f I go up to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in the place of the dead, You are there!

If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!

9 I f I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea,

If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 e ven there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me.

Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.

11 I f I say, “For sure the darkness will cover me and the light around me will be night,”

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night”;

12 e ven the darkness is not dark to You. And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to You.

even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.

13 F or You made the parts inside me. You put me together inside my mother.

For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way I was made brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well.

I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.

15 M y bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth.

My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Y our eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be.

Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.

17 Y our thoughts are of great worth to me, O God. How many there are!

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!

18 I f I could number them, there would be more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.

19 I f only You would kill the sinful, O God, and the men of blood would go away from me!

If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 F or they speak against You in sin. Those who hate You use Your name in a wrong way.

For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.

21 D o I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not hate those who rise up against You?

Yahweh, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?

22 I hate them with the strongest hate. They have become men who hate me.

I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies.

23 L ook through me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts.

Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.

24 S ee if there is any sinful way in me and lead me in the way that lasts forever.

See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.