King James Version KJV
New Revised Standard NRS
1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
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O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
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You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art 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 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
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Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine 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 unto it.
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Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
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Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee 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 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 shall thy hand lead me, and thy 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; even the night shall be light about me.
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If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become 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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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 thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me 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 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, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
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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My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
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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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 also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great 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 should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
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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 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
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O that you would kill the wicked, O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
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those who speak of you maliciously, and lift themselves up against you for evil!
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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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 perfect hatred: I count them mine 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 wicked 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 King James Version is in the public domain.
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.