12
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
Help, Lord, for Athe godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
They Aspeak 1falsehood to one another;
With Bflattering 2lips and with a double heart they speak.
May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that Aspeaks great things;
Who Ahave said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are 1our own; who is lord over us?”
Because of the Adevastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now BI will arise,” says the Lord; “I will Cset him in the safety for which he longs.”
 
The Awords of the Lord are pure words;
As silver Btried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.
You, O Lord, will keep them;
You will Apreserve him from this generation forever.
The Awicked strut about on every side
When 1Bvileness is exalted among the sons of men.
12: Or according to a lower octave (Heb Sheminith) A 12:1 Is 57:1; Mic 7:2 A 12:2 Ps 10:7; 41:6 1 12:2 Or emptiness B 12:2 Ps 28:3; 55:21; Jer 9:8; Rom 16:18 2 12:2 Lit lip A 12:3 Dan 7:8; Rev 13:5 A 12:4 Ps 73:8, 9 1 12:4 Lit with us A 12:5 Ps 9:9; 10:18 B 12:5 Is 33:10 C 12:5 Ps 34:6; 35:10 A 12:6 2 Sam 22:31; Ps 18:30; 19:8, 10; 119:140 B 12:6 Prov 30:5 A 12:7 Ps 37:28; 97:10 A 12:8 Ps 55:10, 11 1 12:8 Or worthlessness B 12:8 Is 32:5