Psalms 12

1 Help us, Lord! There is not a good person left; honest people can no longer be found.

2 All of them lie to one another; they deceive each other with flattery.

3 Silence those flattering tongues, O Lord! Close those boastful mouths that say,

4 “With our words we get what we want. We will say what we wish, and no one can stop us.”

5 “But now I will come,” says the Lord, “because the needy are oppressed and the persecuted groan in pain. I will give them the security they long for.”

6 The promises of the Lord can be trusted; they are as genuine as silver refined seven times in the furnace.

7 (not in this translation)

8 The wicked are everywhere, and everyone praises what is evil. Keep us always safe, O Lord, and preserve us from such people.