King James Version KJV
Good News Translation GNT
1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
1
Lord, you have examined me and you know me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
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You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
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You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
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Even before I speak, you already know what I will say.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
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You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
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Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
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Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
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If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be 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 flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west,
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
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you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
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I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night,
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
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but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
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You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
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I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
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When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother's womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there -
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
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you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
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O God, how difficult I find your thoughts; how many of them there are!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
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If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
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O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone!
20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
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They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name.
21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
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O Lord, how I hate those who hate you! How I despise those who rebel against you!
22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
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I hate them with a total hatred; I regard them as my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
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Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts.
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
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Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.