(To the choir-master. Of David. A psalm.)
Lord, I lie open to thy scrutiny; thou knowest me,

In finem, psalmus David.
Domine, probasti me, et cognovisti me;

Unto the end, a psalm of David.
Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:

knowest when I sit down and when I rise up again, canst read my thoughts from far away.

tu cognovisti sessionem meam et resurrectionem meam.

thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.

Walk I or sleep I, thou canst tell; no movement of mine but thou art watching it.

Intellexisti cogitationes meas de longe; semitam meam et funiculum meum investigasti:

Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.

Before ever the words are framed on my lips, all my thought is known to thee;

et omnes vias meas prævidisti, quia non est sermo in lingua mea.

And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.

rearguard and vanguard, thou dost compass me about, thy hand still laid upon me.

Ecce, Domine, tu cognovisti omnia, novissima et antiqua. Tu formasti me, et posuisti super me manum tuam.

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.

Such wisdom as thine is far beyond my reach, no thought of mine can attain it.

Mirabilis facta est scientia tua ex me; confortata est, et non potero ad eam.

Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.

Where can I go, then, to take refuge from thy spirit, to hide from thy view?

Quo ibo a spiritu tuo? et quo a facie tua fugiam?

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?

If I should climb up to heaven, thou art there; if I sink down to the world beneath, thou art present still.

Si ascendero in cælum, tu illic es; si descendero in infernum, ades.

If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.

If I could wing my way eastwards, or find a dwelling beyond the western sea,

Si sumpsero pennas meas diluculo, et habitavero in extremis maris,

If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:

still would I find thee beckoning to me, thy right hand upholding me.

etenim illuc manus tua deducet me, et tenebit me dextera tua.

Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.

Or perhaps I would think to bury myself in darkness; night should surround me, friendlier than day;

Et dixi: Forsitan tenebræ conculcabunt me; et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.

And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.

but no, darkness is no hiding-place from thee, with thee the night shines clear as day itself; light and dark are one.

Quia tenebræ non obscurabuntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminabitur: sicut tenebræ ejus, ita et lumen ejus.

But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.

Author, thou, of my inmost being, didst thou not form me in my mother’s womb?

Quia tu possedisti renes meos; suscepisti me de utero matris meæ.

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother’s womb.

I praise thee for my wondrous fashioning, for all the wonders of thy creation. Of my soul thou hast full knowledge,

Confitebor tibi, quia terribiliter magnificatus es; mirabilia opera tua, et anima mea cognoscit nimis.

I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.

and this mortal frame had no mysteries for thee, who didst contrive it in secret, devise its pattern, there in the dark recesses of the earth.

Non est occultatum os meum a te, quod fecisti in occulto; et substantia mea in inferioribus terræ.

My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.

All my acts thy eyes have seen, all are set down already in thy record; my days were numbered before ever they came to be.

Imperfectum meum viderunt oculi tui, et in libro tuo omnes scribentur. Dies formabuntur, et nemo in eis.

Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.

A riddle, O my God, thy dealings with me, so vast their scope!

Mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici tui, Deus; nimis confortatus est principatus eorum.

But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.

As well count the sand, as try to fathom them; and, were that skill mine, thy own being still confronts me.

Dinumerabo eos, et super arenam multiplicabuntur. Exsurrexi, et adhuc sum tecum.

I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand: I rose up and am still with thee.

O God, wouldst thou but make an end of the wicked! Murderers, keep your distance from me!

Si occideris, Deus, peccatores, viri sanguinum, declinate a me:

If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me:

Treacherously they rebel against thee, faithlessly set thee at defiance.

quia dicitis in cogitatione: Accipient in vanitate civitates tuas.

Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain.

Lord, do I not hate the men who hate thee, am I not sick at heart over their rebellion?

Nonne qui oderunt te, Domine, oderam, et super inimicos tuos tabescebam?

Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thy enemies?

Surpassing hatred I bear them, count them my sworn enemies.

Perfecto odio oderam illos, et inimici facti sunt mihi.

I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.

Scrutinize me, O God, as thou wilt, and read my heart; put me to the test, and examine my restless thoughts.

Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum; interroga me, et cognosce semitas meas.

Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.

See if on any false paths my heart is set, and thyself lead me in the ways of old.

Et vide si via iniquitatis in me est, et deduc me in via æterna.

And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.