1 Help,¹ Lord, for the godly man ^aceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. ‡

2 ^aThey speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and¹ a double heart they speak. ‡

3 May the Lord¹ cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks¹ proud things, ‡

4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”

5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

6 The words of the Lord are ^apure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times. ‡

7 You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.