English Standard Version ESV
New Revised Standard NRS
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
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O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
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You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
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You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
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Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
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You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
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Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
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Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
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If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
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If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
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even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, ”
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If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,"
12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
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even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
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For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
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I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
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My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
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Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
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How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
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I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end —I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!
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O that you would kill the wicked, O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain.
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those who speak of you maliciously, and lift themselves up against you for evil!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
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Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.
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I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
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Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
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See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.