Psalm 12 ~ Man’s Treachery and God’s Constancy
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
Help, Adonai! For no one godly is left;
the faithful have vanished from humankind.
They all tell lies to each other,
flattering with their lips, but speaking from divided hearts.
May Adonai cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaks so proudly,
those who say, “By our tongues, we will prevail;
our lips are with us. Who can master us?”
“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.”
The words of Adonai are pure words,
silver in a melting-pot set in the earth,
refined and purified seven times over.
You, Adonai, protect us;
guard us forever from this generation
the wicked strut about everywhere
when vileness is held in general esteem.
Complete Jewish Bible