MS 39 begins in
Lauderdale County in the city of
Meridian at the interchange between
I-20/
59,
US 11/
80, and
MS 19 (Exit 154 A/B on I-20/59). It heads northwest through a business district as a four-lane undivided highway to cross
Sowashee Creek and have an interchange with Russell Drive/B Street before making a sharp right onto Front Street (Original US 45). The highway now makes a sharp left turn at the southern end of unsigned
MS 884 (OLD US 45) and heads north as a divided highway through neighborhoods and suburbs for several miles before leaving the city limits and entering the hilly woodlands of the
North Central Hills. MS 39 passes through the community of
Lizelia, where it has an intersection with
MS 854 (John C Stennis Drive; provides access to the community of
Meridian Station and
Naval Air Station Meridian) and narrows to two-lanes, before passing through the community of
Daleville and crossing into
Kemper County. MS 39 travels through hilly woodlands as it passes through the
Blackwater community before entering
De Kalb and traveling through neighborhoods as it joins Peach Avenue. The highway makes a sharp left onto Church Street for a block before making a sharp right onto Main Avenue and passing straight through downtown (and directly beside the Kemper County Courthouse). MS 39 leaves downtown and has a short concurrency with
MS 16 before leaving De Kalb altogether and traveling through hilly remote woodlands for several miles, where it crosses the
Sucarnoochee River before entering
Noxubee County. The terrain now flattens out as MS 39 becomes concurrent with
MS 21 and enters the town of
Shuqualak. MS 21/MS 39 pass straight through the center of town before having an intersection with
MS 145, where MS 21 ends, before MS 39 comes to an end at an intersection with
US 45. ==Major intersections==