Psalm 12

Common English Bible

Psalm 12

For the music leader. According to the Sheminith.^[a] A psalm of David.

12 Help, Lord, because the godly are all gone;
    the faithful have completely disappeared
    from the human race!
²Everyone tells lies to everyone else;
    they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.
³Let the Lord cut off all slick-talking lips
    and every tongue that brags and brags,
⁴    that says, “We’re unbeatable with our tongues!
    Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?”

⁵But the Lord says,
    “Because the poor are oppressed,
    because of the groans of the needy,
    I’m now standing up.
    I will provide the help they are gasping for.”^[b]
⁶The Lord’s promises are pure,
    like silver that’s been refined in an oven,
    purified seven times over!

⁷You, Lord, will keep us,^[c]
protecting us from this generation forever.
⁸The wicked roam all over the place,
while depravity is praised by human beings.