Psalm 12
Expanded Bible
A Prayer Against Liars
For the director of music. Upon the ·sheminith [L eighth; C a reference to an eight-stringed instrument or possibly the manner of singing]. A psalm of David.
12 Save me, Lord, because the ·good [faithful; godly; covenantal; loyal] people are all gone;
·no true believers are left on earth [L the faithful have vanished among humanity].
2 Everyone ·lies [L speaks falsehood] to his neighbors;
they ·say one thing and mean another [speak with flattering lips and with a double heart/L heart and heart].
3 The Lord will ·stop [L cut off] those flattering lips
and those bragging tongues.
4 They say, “Our tongues will ·help us win [prevail].
·We can say what we wish [L Our lips belong to us]; ·no one [L who…?] is our master.”
5 But the Lord says,
“I will now rise up,
because the ·poor [weak] are ·being hurt [destroyed; plundered; oppressed].
Because of the ·moans [groans; sighs] of the ·helpless [needy],
I will give them the ·help [victory] they ·want [long for].”
6 The Lord’s ·words [or promises] are ·pure [flawless],
like silver ·purified [refined] ·by fire [or in a furnace],
·purified [refined] seven times over [18:30; 119:140].
7 Lord, you will ·keep us safe [L guard/protect them];
you will always ·protect [guard] us from such ·people [a generation].
8 But the wicked ·are [L walk] all around us;
·everyone loves what is wrong [L what is vile is lifted up among the sons of man/humanity].
Psalm 12
Amplified Bible
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
To the Chief Musician; [a]set an octave below. A Psalm of David.
12 Save and help and rescue, Lord, for godly people cease to be,
For the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.
2
They speak deceitful and worthless words to one another;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things [in boasting];
4
Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own; who is lord and master 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 place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6
The words and promises of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.
7
You, O Lord, will preserve and keep them;
You will protect him from this [evil] generation forever.
8
The wicked strut about [in pompous self-importance] on every side,
As vileness is exalted and baseness is prized among the sons of men.
Footnotes
- Psalm 12:1 Or possibly on the eight-stringed lyre; meaning uncertain.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
