¹For the leader. On sh’minit [low-pitched musical instruments?]. A psalm of David:

²Help, Adonai ! For no one godly is left;

the faithful have vanished from humankind.

³They all tell lies to each other,

flattering with their lips, but speaking from divided hearts.

⁴May Adonai cut off all flattering lips

and the tongue that speaks so proudly,

⁵those who say, “By our tongues, we will prevail;

our lips are with us. Who can master us?”

⁶“Because the poor are oppressed,

because the needy are groaning,

I will now rise up,” says Adonai ,

“and grant security to those whom they scorn.”

⁷The words of Adonai are pure words,

silver in a melting-pot set in the earth,

refined and purified seven times over.

⁸You, Adonai , protect us;

guard us forever from this generation —

⁹the wicked strut about everywhere

when vileness is held in general esteem.