Psalm 12

1 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!

Mans Treachery and Gods ConstancyTo the Chief Musician. On An Eight-Stringed Harp. A Psalm of David. For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that speaks proud things,4 Who have said, With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise, says the Lord; I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.6 The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.7 You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.8 The wicked prowl on every side, When vileness is exalted 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.