Psalm 12

A Prayer for Help against the Wicked

¹Help, Lord ; for the godly man ceaseth;

for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

²They speak vanity every one with his neighbor:

with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

³The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips,

and the tongue that speaketh proud things:

⁴who have said, With our tongue will we prevail;

our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

⁵For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,

now will I arise, saith the Lord ;

I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

⁶The words of the Lord are pure words:

as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

⁷Thou shalt keep them, O Lord ,

thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

⁸The wicked walk on every side,

when the vilest men are exalted.