Psalm 138

God's special providence over his servants.

Does this psalm differ from what you were expecting? Don't be confused. There are two systems for arranging the psalms: the Septuagint and the Masoretic. We use the Septuagint system here. In the Masoretic system, which is used in most modern Bible translations, this psalm is called Psalm 139, and the previous psalm is known as Psalm 138.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 Unto the end, a psalm of David.

Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:
2 Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.
3 Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.
4 And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue. There is no speech, etc... Viz., unknown to thee: or when there is no speech in my tongue; yet my whole interior and my most secret thoughts are known to thee.
5 Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.
6 Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?
8 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.
9 If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
10 Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
12 But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.
15 My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
16 Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.
17 But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
18 I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with thee.
19 If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me:
20 Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain. Because you say in thought, etc... Depart from me, you wicked, who plot against the servants of God, and think to cast them out of the cities of their habitation; as if they have received them in vain, and to no purpose.
21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thy enemies?
22 I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me. I have hated them... Not with an hatred of malice, but a zeal for the observance of God's commandments; which he saw were despised by the wicked, who are to be considered enemies to God.
23 Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.
24 And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 In finem, psalmus David.

Domine, probasti me, et cognovisti me;
2 tu cognovisti sessionem meam et resurrectionem meam.
3 Intellexisti cogitationes meas de longe;
semitam meam et funiculum meum investigasti:
4 et omnes vias meas prævidisti,
quia non est sermo in lingua mea.
5 Ecce, Domine, tu cognovisti omnia,
novissima et antiqua.
Tu formasti me, et posuisti super me manum tuam.
6 Mirabilis facta est scientia tua ex me;
confortata est, et non potero ad eam.
7 Quo ibo a spiritu tuo?
et quo a facie tua fugiam?
8 Si ascendero in cælum, tu illic es;
si descendero in infernum, ades.
9 Si sumpsero pennas meas diluculo,
et habitavero in extremis maris,
10 etenim illuc manus tua deducet me,
et tenebit me dextera tua.
11 Et dixi: Forsitan tenebræ conculcabunt me;
et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.
12 Quia tenebræ non obscurabuntur a te,
et nox sicut dies illuminabitur:
sicut tenebræ ejus, ita et lumen ejus.
13 Quia tu possedisti renes meos;
suscepisti me de utero matris meæ.
14 Confitebor tibi, quia terribiliter magnificatus es;
mirabilia opera tua, et anima mea cognoscit nimis.
15 Non est occultatum os meum a te, quod fecisti in occulto;
et substantia mea in inferioribus terræ.
16 Imperfectum meum viderunt oculi tui,
et in libro tuo omnes scribentur.
Dies formabuntur, et nemo in eis.
17 Mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici tui, Deus;
nimis confortatus est principatus eorum.
18 Dinumerabo eos, et super arenam multiplicabuntur.
Exsurrexi, et adhuc sum tecum.
19 Si occideris, Deus, peccatores,
viri sanguinum, declinate a me:
20 quia dicitis in cogitatione:
Accipient in vanitate civitates tuas.
21 Nonne qui oderunt te, Domine, oderam,
et super inimicos tuos tabescebam?
22 Perfecto odio oderam illos,
et inimici facti sunt mihi.
23 Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum;
interroga me, et cognosce semitas meas.
24 Et vide si via iniquitatis in me est,
et deduc me in via æterna.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition