Psalm 12

God, a Helper against the Treacherous.

For the choir director; [a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.

1Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2They speak [b]falsehood to one another;
With flattering [c]lips and with a double heart they speak.
3May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things;
4Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [d]our own; who is lord over us?”
5“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

6The words of the Lord are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
7You, O Lord, will keep them;
You will preserve him from this generation forever.
8The wicked strut about on every side
When [e]vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 12:1 Or according to a lower octave (Heb Sheminith)
  2. Psalm 12:2 Or emptiness
  3. Psalm 12:2 Lit lip
  4. Psalm 12:4 Lit with us
  5. Psalm 12:8 Or worthlessness
Psalm 12