For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
1Help, LORD! No one does what is right anymore. Those who are faithful have disappeared from the human race.2Everyone tells lies to their neighbours. With their lips they praise others, but they don’t really mean it.3May the LORD close all lips that don’t mean what they say. May he stop every tongue that boasts.4They say, ‘What we speak with our tongues will win the battle. What we say with our lips will keep us safe. No one will have victory over us.’5The LORD says, ‘The poor are being robbed. Those who are in need groan. So I will stand up to help them. I will keep them safe from those who tell lies about them.’6The words of the LORD are perfect. They are like silver made pure in a clay furnace. They are like gold made pure seven times over.7LORD, you will keep needy people safe. You will always keep sinners from hurting us.8Proud and sinful people walk around openly when the evil they do is praised by the human race.
Psalm 12
English Standard Version
The Faithful Have Vanished
1To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.[1] A Psalm of David. Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. (Isa 57:1; Mic 7:2)2Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. (1Ch 12:33; Ps 5:9; Ps 41:6; Ps 144:8; Jer 9:8; Ro 16:18; Jas 1:8)3May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, (Ps 12:2; Ps 17:10; Da 7:8; Re 13:5)4those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”5“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” (Ps 9:12; Ps 55:18; Ps 82:8; Isa 33:10)6The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. (Ps 18:30; Ps 19:8; Ps 119:140; Pr 30:5)7You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us[2] from this generation forever.8On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.