12 Help, Lord, for godly people no longer exist;
    trustworthy people have disappeared from humanity.^[b]
2 Everyone speaks lies to his neighbor;
    they speak with flattering lips and hidden motives.^[c]
3 The Lord will cut off all slippery lips,
    and the tongue that boasts great things,
⁴ those who say,
    “By our tongues we will prevail;
        our lips belong to us.
    Who is master^[d] over us?”
⁵ “Because the poor are being oppressed,
    because the needy are sighing,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord,
        “I will establish in safety those who yearn for it.”
⁶ The words of the Lord are pure,
    like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
        purified seven times over.
⁷ You, Lord, will keep them^[e] safe,
    you will guard them^[f] from this generation forever.
⁸ The wicked, however,^[g] keep walking around,
    exalting the vileness of human beings.^[h]