If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
Parallel translations
- KJV If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
- BSB If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
- NKJV If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
- NASB If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
- NLT If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Amos 9:2–4Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.
- Jonah 2:2He said, “I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.
- Job 34:21–22“For his eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees all his goings.
- Prov 15:11Sheol and Abaddon are before Yahweh — how much more then the hearts of the children of men!
- Obad 1:4Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
- Job 26:6Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
- Ezek 28:12–17Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You were the seal of full measure, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 139:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.