Psalm 12

1  HELP, LORD! For principled and godly people are here no more; faithfulness and the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.2  To his neighbor each one speaks words without use or worth or truth; with flattering lips and double heart [deceitfully] they speak.3  May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongues that speak proud boasting,4  Those who say, With our tongues we prevail; our lips are our own [to command at our will]--who is lord and master over us?5  Now will I arise, says the Lord, because the poor are oppressed, because of the groans of the needy; I will set him in safety and in the salvation for which he pants.6  The words and promises of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times over.7  You will keep them and preserve them, O Lord; You will guard and keep us from this [evil] generation forever.8  The wicked walk or prowl about on every side, as vileness is exalted [and baseness is rated high] among the sons of men.

Psalm 12

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; a psalm of David.

1 Deliver, Lord!
For the godly have disappeared;
people of integrity have vanished.

2 People lie to one another;
they flatter and deceive.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
and the tongue that boasts!

4 They say, “We speak persuasively;
we know how to flatter and boast.
Who is our master?”

5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed,
because of the painful cries of the needy,
I will spring into action,” says the Lord.
“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.”

6 The Lord’s words are absolutely reliable.
They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,
where it is thoroughly refined.

7 You, Lord, will protect them;
you will continually shelter each one from these evil people,

8 for the wicked seem to be everywhere,
when people promote evil.