New International Version NIV
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
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<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 rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
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You have knowledge when I am seated and when I get up, you see my thoughts from far away.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
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You keep watch over my steps and my sleep, and have knowledge of all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.
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For there is not a word on my tongue which is not clear to you, O Lord.
5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
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I am shut in by you on every side, and you have put your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
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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 from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
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Where may I go from your spirit? how may I go in flight from you?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
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If I go up to heaven, you are there: or if I make my bed in the underworld, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
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If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
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Even there will I be guided by your hand, and your right hand will keep me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
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If I say, Only let me be covered by the dark, and the light about me be night;
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
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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 created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
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My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
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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 frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
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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 saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
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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 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
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How dear are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the number of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
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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 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
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If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood.
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
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For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
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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 have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
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My hate for them is complete; my thoughts of them are as if they were making war on me.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
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O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested:
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
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See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.