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Human Faithlessness and God’s Faithfulness

For the music director; on the Sheminith.[a] A psalm of David.[b]

12 Save, O Yahweh, for the pious have ceased to be;
for the faithful have vanished
from among the children of humankind.
They speak falseness to each other.[c]
With flattering lips,
with a double heart[d] they speak.
May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue speaking great boasts—
those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail.
Our lips are on our side.
Who is master over us?”
“Because of the oppression of the afflicted,
because of the groaning of the poor,
now I will rise up,” Yahweh says.
“I shall put them in the safety for which they[e] long.”
The words of Yahweh are pure words
like silver refined in the crucible on the ground,
refined seven times.
You, O Yahweh, will protect them.
You will preserve him[f]
from this generation always.
The wicked prowl about
when vileness is exalted among the children of humankind.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 12:1 Meaning uncertain
  2. Psalm 12:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
  3. Psalm 12:2 Literally “each with his companion”
  4. Psalm 12:2 Literally “a heart and a heart”
  5. Psalm 12:5 Hebrew “he”
  6. Psalm 12:7 Or “us”

Psalm 12

Oppression by the Wicked

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

Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains;
the loyal have disappeared from the human race.(B)
They lie to one another;
they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.(C)
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaks boastfully.(D)
They say, “Through our tongues we have power;[a]
our lips are our own—who can be our master?”(E)

“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.”(F)

The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace,
purified seven times.(G)

You, Lord, will guard us;[b]
You will protect us[c] from this generation forever.(H)
The wicked wander[d] everywhere,
and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.(I)

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