Psalm 12
New American Standard Bible
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the music director; [a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for (A)the godly person has come to an end,
For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.
2 They (B)speak [b]lies to one another;
They speak with [c](C)flattering lips and a double heart.
3 May the Lord cut off all [d]flattering lips,
The tongue that (D)speaks great things;
4 Who (E)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [e]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (F)devastation of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (G)I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will (H)put him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The (I)words of the Lord are pure words;
Like silver (J)refined in a furnace on the ground, filtered seven times.
7 You, Lord, will keep them;
You will (K)protect him from this generation forever.
8 The (L)wicked strut about on every side
When [f](M)vileness is exalted among the sons of mankind.
Footnotes
- Psalm 12 Title Or according to a lower octave (Heb Sheminith)
- Psalm 12:2 Lit worthless speech
- Psalm 12:2 Lit a smooth lip
- Psalm 12:3 Lit a smooth lip
- Psalm 12:4 Lit with us
- Psalm 12:8 Or worthlessness
Psalm 12
New Living Translation
Psalm 12
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.[a]
1 Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!
The faithful have vanished from the earth!
2 Neighbors lie to each other,
speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
3 May the Lord cut off their flattering lips
and silence their boastful tongues.
4 They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.
Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”
5 The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,
and I have heard the groans of the poor.
Now I will rise up to rescue them,
as they have longed for me to do.”
6 The Lord’s promises are pure,
like silver refined in a furnace,
purified seven times over.
7 Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed,
preserving them forever from this lying generation,
8 even though the wicked strut about,
and evil is praised throughout the land.
Footnotes
- 12:Title Hebrew according to the sheminith.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
