Psalm 11:1–12:8

¹In ^athe Lord I put my trust; How can you say to my soul,

“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?

²For look! ^bThe wicked bend their bow,

They make ready their arrow on the string,

That they may shoot ¹secretly at the upright in heart.

^3cIf the foundations are destroyed,

What can the righteous do?

⁴The Lord is in His holy temple,

The Lord’s ^dthrone is in heaven;

^eHis eyes behold,

His eyelids test the sons of men.

⁵The Lord ^ftests the righteous,

But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

⁶Upon the wicked He will rain coals;

Fire and brimstone and a burning wind

^gShall be ²the portion of their cup.

⁷For the Lord is righteous,

He ^hloves righteousness;

³His countenance beholds the upright.

Psalm 12

To the Chief Musician. On An Eight-Stringed Harp. A Psalm of David.

¹Help, ²Lord, for the godly man ^bceases!

For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

^2cThey speak idly everyone with his neighbor;

With flattering lips and ³a double heart they speak.

³May the Lord ⁴cut off all flattering lips,

And the tongue that speaks ⁵proud things,

⁴Who 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.”

⁶The words of the Lord are ^dpure words,

Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,

Purified seven times.

⁷You shall keep them, O Lord,

You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

⁸The wicked prowl on every side,

When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.