Bible Browser

Psalm 139

1  O Lord, you have searched me out and known me; ♦︎
   you know my sitting down and my rising up;
      you discern my thoughts from afar.
2  You mark out my journeys and my resting place ♦︎
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
3  For there is not a word on my tongue, ♦︎
   but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
4  You encompass me behind and before ♦︎
   and lay your hand upon me.
5  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, ♦︎
   so high that I cannot attain it.
6  Where can I go then from your spirit? ♦︎
   Or where can I flee from your presence?
7  If I climb up to heaven, you are there; ♦︎
   if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8  If I take the wings of the morning ♦︎
   and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9  Even there your hand shall lead me, ♦︎
   your right hand hold me fast.
10  If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will cover me ♦︎
   and the light around me turn to night,’
11  Even darkness is no darkness with you;
      the night is as clear as the day; ♦︎
   darkness and light to you are both alike.
12  For you yourself created my inmost parts; ♦︎
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
13  I thank you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; ♦︎
   marvellous are your works, my soul knows well.
14  My frame was not hidden from you, ♦︎
   when I was made in secret
      and woven in the depths of the earth.
15  Your eyes beheld my form, as yet unfinished; ♦︎
   already in your book were all my members written,
16  As day by day they were fashioned ♦︎
   when as yet there was none of them.
17  How deep are your counsels to me, O God! ♦︎
   How great is the sum of them!
18  If I count them, they are more in number than the sand, ♦︎
   and at the end, I am still in your presence.

Psalm 139

The Inescapable God

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
¹ O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away.
³ You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ 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 settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
¹⁰ 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,
   and the light around me become night’,

Admonition to Trust and Honour God

3My child, do not forget my teaching,
   but let your heart keep my commandments;
² for length of days and years of life
   and abundant welfare they will give you.

³ Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;
   bind them round your neck,
   write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ So you will find favour and good repute
   in the sight of God and of people.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
   and do not rely on your own insight.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
   and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
   fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸ It will be a healing for your flesh
   and a refreshment for your body.

⁹ Honour the Lord with your substance
   and with the first fruits of all your produce;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled with plenty,
   and your vats will be bursting with wine.

¹¹ My child, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
   or be weary of his reproof,
¹² for the Lord reproves the one he loves,
   as a father the son in whom he delights.

The True Wealth

¹³ Happy are those who find wisdom,
   and those who get understanding,
¹⁴ for her income is better than silver,
   and her revenue better than gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than jewels,
   and nothing you desire can compare with her.
¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand;
   in her left hand are riches and honour.
¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
   and all her paths are peace.
¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
   those who hold her fast are called happy.

3¹See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he^* is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. ³And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them;^* they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.^*

Love One Another

11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. ¹²We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. ¹³Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters,^* that the world hates you. ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. ¹⁵All who hate a brother or sister^* are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them.

The Rich Man

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ¹⁸Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ ²⁰He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ ²¹Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money^* to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ ²²When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ ²⁴And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is^* to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ ²⁶They were greatly astounded and said to one another,^* ‘Then who can be saved?’ ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

28 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ ²⁹Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news,^{* 30}who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’