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1Deliver, Lord !
For the godly have disappeared;
people of integrity have vanished.
2People lie to one another;[#tn Heb “falsehood they speak, a man with his neighbor.” The imperfect verb forms in v. 2 describe what is typical in the psalmist’s experience.]
they flatter and deceive.
3May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,[#tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord cut off”), not indicative (“The Lord will cut off”; see also Ps 109:15 and Mal 2:12). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that he will. In this way he seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.]
and the tongue that boasts!
4They say, “We speak persuasively;[#tn Heb “which say.” The plural verb after the relative pronoun indicates a plural antecedent for the pronoun, probably “lips” in v. 3.; #tn Heb “to our tongue we make strong.” The Hiphil of גָבַר (gavar) occurs only here and in Dan 9:27, where it refers to making strong, or confirming, a covenant. Here in Ps 12 the evildoers “make their tongue strong” in the sense that they use their tongue to produce flattering and arrogant words to accomplish their purposes. The preposition -לְ (l) prefixed to “our tongue” may be dittographic.]
we know how to flatter and boast.
Who is our master?”
5“Because of the violence done to the oppressed,[#tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.]
because of the painful cries of the needy,
I will spring into action,” says the Lord .
“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.”
6The Lord ’s words are absolutely reliable.[#tn Heb “the words of the Lord are pure words,” i.e., untainted by falsehood or deception (in contrast to the flattery of the evildoers, v. 2).]
They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,
where it is thoroughly refined.
7You, Lord , will protect them;[#tn The third person plural pronominal suffix on the verb is masculine, referring back to the “oppressed” and “needy” in v. 5 (both of those nouns are plural in form), suggesting that the verb means “protect” here. The suffix does not refer to אִמֲרוֹת (’imarot, “words”) in v. 6, because that term is feminine gender.]
you will continually shelter each one from these evil people,
8for the wicked seem to be everywhere,[#tn Heb “the wicked walk all around.” One could translate v. 8a as an independent clause, in which case it would be a concluding observation in proverbial style. The present translation assumes that v. 8a is a subordinate explanatory clause, or perhaps a subordinate temporal clause (“while the wicked walk all around”). The adverb סָבִיב (saviv, “around”), in combination with the Hitpael form of the verb “walk” (which indicates repeated action), pictures the wicked as ubiquitous. They have seemingly overrun society.]
when people promote evil.