Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139)

Verses 13 to 16 of Psalm 139. David thanks God for knitting him together in his mother’s womb and for writing all his days in His book before one had come.

Picture: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Maternal Admiration, 1869

Plain English

For You formed my inmost being;You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I thank You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Your works are wonderful,and my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from Youwhen I was made in secret,woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body.All the days shaped for mewere written in Your bookbefore a single one of them had come.

Traditional wording, 1611

For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where the old wording says “covered me in my mother’s womb”, the 1917 Jewish Publication Society translation of the Hebrew has “knit me together”, as the plain wording does.

When it is said

Anyone may pray it at any time.

Verses 13 to 16 suit a mother or father waiting for a baby, because they praise God for shaping a child in the womb.

Where it comes from

Author by tradition

Who wrote it?

The heading of Psalm 139 in the Hebrew calls it a psalm of David, and the heading in the Greek does too. The Orthodox Church prays the psalms in the Greek, where it is Psalm 138.

Brenton’s English Septuagint (1851), Psalm 138; Psalm 139 in Hebrew, Mechon Mamre

St Athanasius on this psalm

St Athanasius of Alexandria lived from about AD 295 to 373. In his Letter to Marcellinus on praying the psalms, he gives this psalm to anyone who has taken their trials as a test and wants to give thanks once they are over.

Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus (Greek)

What the words mean

Where the Greek differs

In the Greek Psalter two of these verses read differently. Its verse 13 says “thou hast helped me from my mother’s womb”, and its verse 16 says “all men shall be written in thy book”. The plain wording follows the Hebrew.

Brenton’s English Septuagint (1851), Psalm 138

The Scripture in it

For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16 Quoted These four verses are the prayer.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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