psalm

Psalm 12

Oppression by the Wicked

For the choir director: according to Sheminith. A Davidic psalm.

Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains;

the loyal have disappeared from the human race.

They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips

and the tongue that speaks boastfully.

They say, “Through our tongues we have power;[a]

our lips are our own—who can be our master?”

“Because of the oppression of the afflicted

and the groaning of the poor,

I will now rise up,” says the Lord.

“I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place.”

The words of the Lord are pure words,

like silver refined in an earthen furnace,

purified seven times.

You, Lord, will guard us;[b]

You will protect us[c] from this generation forever.

The wicked wander[d] everywhere,

and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 12:4 Lit That say, “By our tongues we are strengthened
  2. Psalm 12:7 Some Hb mss, LXX, Jer; other Hb mss read them
  3. Psalm 12:7 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read him
  4. Psalm 12:8 Lit walk about