¹² For the music director, according to the sheminith style; a psalm of David.

Deliver, Lord!

For the godly have disappeared;

people of integrity have vanished.

² People lie to one another;

they flatter and deceive.

³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts!

⁴ They say, “We speak persuasively;

we know how to flatter and boast.

Who is our master?”

⁵ “Because of the violence done to the oppressed,

because of the painful cries of the needy,

I will spring into action,” says the Lord.

“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.”

⁶ The Lord’s words are absolutely reliable.

They are as untainted as silver purified in a furnace on the ground,

where it is thoroughly refined.

⁷ You, Lord, will protect the oppressed;

you will continually shelter each one from these evil people,

⁸ for the wicked seem to be everywhere,

when people promote evil.