THE
BOOK OF PSALMS
Psalms 139-140
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1
¶ O LORD, you have searched me, and known me.
2
You know when I sit down and when I get up, you understand my thoughts from far
away.
3
You watch over my travels and my rest, and know all my ways.
4
Before there is a word on my tongue, O LORD, you know all about it.
5
You have surrounded me, and placed your hand upon me.
6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain
to it.
7
¶ Where can I go to escape your spirit? or where can I flee to escape your presence?
8
If I go up into heaven, you are there: if I make the grave my bed,
behold, you are there.
9
If I take the wings of the morning, and stay at the most distant
parts of the sea;
10
Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
11
If I say, Surely the darkness will hide me; and the
light around me will become night.
12
Even the dark does not hide things from you; but the night shines as the
day: the darkness and the light are both alike to you.
13
For you have created my inner being: you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14
I will praise you; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: what you do is
marvelous; and I know this very well.
15
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, and
curiously wrought in the depths of the earth.
16
Your eyes saw me, before I was formed; and in your book all the days of my
life were written, before they ever took shape, before any of them began.
17
¶ How incomprehensible are your thoughts for me, O
God! how vast is the number of them!
18
If I would count them, they would be more numerous than the grains of
sand: when I awake, I am still with you.
19
O that you would slay the wicked, O God: and that bloody men would depart from
me.
20
For they speak wickedness against you, and as your enemies take your
name in vain.
21
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? and detest
those who rise up against you?
22
I hate them with perfect hatred: I regard them as my enemies.
23
Search me, O God, and know my heart: test me, and know my thoughts:
24
And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting.
Psalm
140
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1
¶ Rescue me, O LORD, from wicked men: keep me safe from violent men;
2
Who plan evil in their heart; and are continually stirring up fighting.
3
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; their lips hide the poison of
vipers. Selah.
4
Protect me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; keep me safe from violent
men; who have plotted to overthrow me.
5
The proud have hidden a snare for me, and have spread a net with ropes; they
have set traps for me along the path. Selah.
6
I said to the LORD, You are my God: hear the voice of my pleading, O
LORD.
7
O Lord GOD, my mighty savior, you have shielded my head in the day of battle.
8
¶ Do not give the wicked what they want, O LORD: or
let them achieve their goals; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
9
As for the heads of those who surround me, let the mischief of their own
lips overwhelm them.
10
Let burning coals rain upon them: let them be thrown into the fire; into the abyss, so that they do not come up again.
11
Do not let a slanderer be established on the earth: disaster will pursue the
violent man to overthrow him.
12
I know that the LORD upholds the cause of the afflicted, and executes
justice for the poor.
13
Surely the righteous will praise your name: and the upright will live in your
presence.