1 | Unto the end. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have examined me, and you have known me. |
2 | You have known my sitting down and my rising up again. |
3 | You have understood my thoughts from afar. My path and my fate, you have investigated. |
4 | And you have foreseen all my ways. For there is no word in my tongue. |
5 | Behold, O Lord, you have known all things: the newest and the very old. You have formed me, and you have placed your hand over me. |
6 | Your knowledge has become a wonder to me. It has been reinforced, and I am not able to prevail against it. |
7 | Where will I go from your Spirit? And where will I flee from your face? |
8 | If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I descend into Hell, you are near. |
9 | If I assume my feathers in early morning, and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea, |
10 | even there, your hand will lead me forth, and your right hand will hold me. |
11 | And I said: Perhaps darkness will overwhelm me, and the night will be my illumination, to my delight. |
12 | But darkness will not be impenetrable to you, and night will illuminate like the day: for just as its darkness is, so also is its light. |
13 | For you have possessed my temperament. You have supported me from the womb of my mother. |
14 | I will confess to you, for you have been magnified terribly. Your works are miraculous, as my soul knows exceedingly well. |
15 | My bone, which you have made in secret, has not been hidden from you, and my substance is in accord with the lower parts of the earth. |
16 | Your eyes saw my imperfection, and all this shall be written in your book. Days will be formed, and no one shall be in them. |
17 | But to me, O God, your friends have been greatly honored. Their first ruler has been exceedingly strengthened. |
18 | I will number them, and they will be more numerous than the sand. I rose up, and I am still with you. |
19 | O God, if only you would cut down sinners. You men of blood: depart from me. |
20 | For you say in thought: They will accept your cities in vain. |
21 | Have I not hated those who hated you, Lord, and wasted away because of your enemies? |
22 | I have hated them with a perfect hatred, and they have become enemies to me. |
23 | Examine me, O God, and know my heart. Question me, and know my paths. |
24 | And see if there might be in me the way of iniquity, and lead me in the way of eternity. |