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Psalms · Brenton's English Septuagint

Psalm 138 (139) Brenton's English Septuagint

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About Brenton
  • Individual translator
  • OT: Septuagint (Greek)
  • Septuagint Old Testament (no New Testament)
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 1844
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · Psalm 139 · About the recordings

Notes on this text (3)

Psalm 138 in Brenton = Psalm 139 in WEB.

Brenton Brenton's English Septuagint
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 For the end, a Psalm of David. O Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me.
139:1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.
2 Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising: thou understandest my thoughts long before.
139:2 You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 Thou hast traced my path and my bed, and hast foreseen all my ways.
139:3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is no unrighteous word in my tongue: behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things,
139:4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
5 the last and the first: thou hast fashioned me, and laid thine hand upon me.
139:5 You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
6 The knowledge of thee is too wonderful for me; it is very difficult, I cannot [attain] to it.
139:6 This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither shall I flee from thy presence?
139:7 Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?
8 If I should go up to heaven, thou art there: if I should go down to hell, thou art present.
139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
9 If I should spread my wings [to fly] straight forward, and sojourn at the extremity of the sea, [it would be vain],
139:9 If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 for even there thy hand would guide me, and thy right hand would hold me.
139:10 even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
11 When I said, Surely the darkness will cover me; even the night [was] light in my luxury.
139:11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,”
12 For darkness will not be darkness with thee; but night will be light as day: as its darkness, so shall its light [be to thee].
139:12 even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
13 For thou, O Lord, hast possessed my reins; thou hast helped me from my mother's womb.
139:13 For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thee thanks; for thou art fearfully wondrous; wondrous are thy works; and my soul knows [it] well.
139:14 I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
15 My bones which thou madest in secret were not hidden from thee, nor my substance, in the lowest parts of the earth.
139:15 My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Thine eyes saw my unwrought [substance], and all [men] shall be written in thy book; they shall be formed by day, though [there should for a time] be no one among them.
139:16 Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
17 But thy friends, O God, have been greatly honoured by me; their rule has been greatly strengthened.
139:17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!
18 I will number them, and they shall be multiplied beyond the sand; I awake, and am still with thee.
139:18 If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
19 Oh that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O God; depart from me, ye men of blood.
139:19 If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 For thou wilt say concerning [their] thought, [that] they shall take thy cities in vain.
139:20 For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hate thee? and wasted away because of thine enemies?
139:21 Yahweh, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?
22 I have hated them with perfect hatred; they were counted my enemies.
139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies.
23 Prove me, O God, and know my heart; examine me, and know my paths;
139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
24 and see if [there is any] way of iniquity in me, and lead me in an everlasting way.
139:24 See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Cross references (24)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info. References use English (Hebrew-based) verse numbers; links open the passage in Brenton.

  1. 1 Hebrews 4:13; Jeremiah 12:3; Jeremiah 17:9–10; Psalm 44:21; Psalm 17:3
  2. 2 Matthew 9:4; 2 Kings 19:27; Isaiah 37:28; Psalm 94:11; Luke 9:47
  3. 3 Jeremiah 23:24; Job 31:4; Proverbs 5:20–21; Genesis 28:10–17; 2 Samuel 11:27
  4. 4 Hebrews 4:12–13; Psalm 19:14; Psalm 50:19–21; Matthew 12:35–37; Job 42:3
  5. 5 Psalm 34:7; Deuteronomy 33:27; Revelation 1:17; Job 23:8–9; Exodus 24:11
  6. 6 Romans 11:33; Job 42:3; Job 11:7–9; Job 26:14; Psalm 40:5
  7. 7 Jeremiah 23:23–24; Jonah 1:3; Jonah 1:10
  8. 8 Amos 9:2–4; Job 34:21–22; Jonah 2:2; Obadiah 4; Proverbs 15:11
  9. 9 Psalm 19:6; Psalm 74:16–17; Malachi 4:2
  10. 10 Psalm 23:3; Isaiah 41:13; Psalm 73:23; Psalm 63:8; Psalm 143:9–10
  11. 11 Job 12:22; Jeremiah 23:24; Psalm 94:7; Psalm 10:11–13; Job 22:12–14
  12. 12 Daniel 2:22; Job 34:22; Exodus 20:21; Hebrews 4:13; Job 26:6
  13. 13 Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 119:73; Isaiah 44:2; Job 31:15; Job 10:9–12
  14. 14 Genesis 1:26–27; Psalm 111:2; Psalm 104:24; Psalm 92:4–5; Psalm 40:5
  15. 15 Ecclesiastes 11:5; Psalm 139:13; Job 10:8–11; Psalm 63:9
  16. 16 Psalm 56:8; Malachi 3:16; Revelation 20:12
  17. 17 Psalm 40:5; Jeremiah 29:11; Isaiah 55:8–9; Psalm 92:5; Psalm 36:7
  18. 18 Psalm 3:5; Psalm 139:3; Psalm 40:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:10; Psalm 63:6–7
  19. 19 Psalm 5:6; Psalm 119:115; Isaiah 11:4; Psalm 9:17; Psalm 6:8
  20. 20 Jude 15; Exodus 20:7; Psalm 74:18; Psalm 2:1–3; Psalm 73:8–9
  21. 21 Psalm 119:158; Psalm 31:6; Revelation 2:2; 2 Chronicles 19:2; Psalm 26:5
  22. 22 Luke 14:26; Psalm 101:3–8
  23. 23 Psalm 26:2; Job 31:6; 1 Peter 1:7; Proverbs 17:3; Deuteronomy 8:2
  24. 24 Psalm 143:10; Jeremiah 17:9–10; Psalm 25:8–9; Psalm 119:32; Psalm 16:11

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

Articles and answers on this site that cite Psalm 139 (Hebrew/English numbering).

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations). Verse numbers below follow the Hebrew/English numbering: 139.

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Commentary Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms (Psalm CXXXVIII)

    The title of this Psalm is brief and simple, and need not detain us; since we know whose resemblance David wore, and since in him we recognise ourselves also, for we too are members of that Body. The whole title is, "To David himself." Let us see then, what is to David himself.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)

  2. Quotes verse 139:7–10 Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians (Chapters XXVI–XXXIII)

    If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there; if I go away even to the uttermost parts of the earth, there is Thy right hand; if I make my bed in the abyss, there is Thy Spirit." Whither, then, shall any one go, or where shall he escape from Him who comprehends all things?

    Read in context · Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)

  3. Quotes verse 139:7 Augustine of Hippo, Confessions (Book V)

    For whither fled they when they fled from Thy presence? Or where dost Thou not find them?

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)

  4. Quotes verse 139:8 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture VIII)

    … have dared to circumscribe God's providence by the clouds and the heaven, and to alienate from God the things on earth; having forgotten the Psalm which says, If I go up into heaven, Thou art there, if I go down into hell, Thou art present.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)

  5. Quotes verse 139:14 Basil of Caesarea, Hexaemeron (Homily IX)

    Yet the beholding of heaven and earth does not make us know God better than the attentive study of our being does; I am, says the Prophet, fearfully and wonderfully made; that is to say, in observing myself I have known Thy infinite wisdom.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)