The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 For the leader. A psalm of David: ADONAI, you have probed me, and you know me.
1
<To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.> O Lord, you have knowledge of me, searching out all my secrets.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand up, you discern my inclinations from afar,
2
You have knowledge when I am seated and when I get up, you see my thoughts from far away.
3 you scrutinize my daily activities. You are so familiar with all my ways
3
You keep watch over my steps and my sleep, and have knowledge of all my ways.
4 that before I speak even a word, ADONAI, you know all about it already.
4
For there is not a word on my tongue which is not clear to you, O Lord.
5 You have hemmed me in both behind and in front and laid your hand on me.
5
I am shut in by you on every side, and you have put your hand on me.
6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me, far too high for me to reach.
6
Such knowledge is a wonder greater than my powers; it is so high that I may not come near it.
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
7
Where may I go from your spirit? how may I go in flight from you?
8 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I lie down in Sh'ol, you are there.
8
If I go up to heaven, you are there: or if I make my bed in the underworld, you are there.
9 If I fly away with the wings of the dawn and land beyond the sea,
9
If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;
10 even there your hand would lead me, your right hand would hold me fast.
10
Even there will I be guided by your hand, and your right hand will keep me.
11 If I say, "Let darkness surround me, let the light around me be night,"
11
If I say, Only let me be covered by the dark, and the light about me be night;
12 even darkness like this is not too dark for you; rather, night is as clear as day, darkness and light are the same.
12
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 For you fashioned my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.
13
My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body.
14 I thank you because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; your works are wonders -I know this very well.
14
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 My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
15
My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed.
16
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 God, how I prize your thoughts! How many of them there are!
17
How dear are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the number of them!
18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand; if I finish the count, I am still with you.
18
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 God, if only you would kill off the wicked! Men of blood, get away from me!
19
If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood.
20 They invoke your name for their crafty schemes; yes, your enemies misuse it.
20
For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.
21 ADONAI, how I hate those who hate you! I feel such disgust with those who defy you!
21
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 I hate them with unlimited hatred! They have become my enemies too.
22
My hate for them is complete; my thoughts of them are as if they were making war on me.
23 Examine me, God, and know my heart; test me, and know my thoughts.
23
O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested:
24 See if there is in me any hurtful way, and lead me along the eternal way.
24
See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.