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Morning in the Riesengebirge. Caspar David Friedrich, from 1810 until 1811. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Psalm 139

24 verses · Wisdom psalm

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

The line breaks below follow the poem's own punctuation.

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;You understand my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down;You are aware of all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

You hem me in behind and before;You have laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?Where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,

even there Your hand will guide me;Your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—

even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

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

I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—

who speak of You deceitfully;Your enemies take Your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?

I hate them with perfect hatred;I count them as my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

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