Revised Standard Version RSV
Good News Translation GNT
1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me!
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Lord, you have examined me and you know me.
2 Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
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You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts.
3 Thou searchest out 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 Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
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Even before I speak, you already know what I will say.
5 Thou dost beset me behind and before, and layest thy 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 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 to heaven, thou art there! If I make my bed in Sheol, 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 thy hand shall 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, "Let only darkness cover me, and the light about me be night,"
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I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night,
12 even the darkness is not dark to thee, the night is bright as the day; for darkness is as light with 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 didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together 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 praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me 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 frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths 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 Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy 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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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 to me are thy thoughts, O God! How vast 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 would count them, they are more 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 O that thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God, and that men of blood would depart from me,
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O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked! How I wish violent people would leave me alone!
20 men who maliciously defy thee, who lift themselves up against thee for evil!
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They say wicked things about you; they speak evil things against your name.
21 Do I not hate them that hate thee, O LORD? And do I not loathe them 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 my 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.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the 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.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.