Psalm 12

¹Help, LORD , because the godly are all gone;

the faithful have completely disappeared

from the human race!

²Everyone tells lies to everyone else;

they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.

³Let the LORD cut off all slick-talking lips

and every tongue that brags and brags,

⁴that says, “We’re unbeatable with our tongues!

Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?”

⁵But the LORD says,

“Because the poor are oppressed,

because of the groans of the needy,

I’m now standing up.

I will provide the help they are gasping for.”

⁶The LORD ’s promises are pure,

like silver that’s been refined in an oven,

purified seven times over!

⁷You, LORD , will keep us,[#12.7 LXX; MT keep them]

protecting us from this generation forever.

⁸The wicked roam all over the place,

while depravity is praised by human beings.