Psalm 11:title–12:8

To the choirmaster. Of David.

¹In the Lord I take refuge;

how can you say to me,

“Flee like a bird to the mountains;

²for lo, the wicked bend the bow,

they have fitted their arrow to the string,

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

³if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do”?

⁴The Lord is in his holy temple,

the Lord’s throne is in heaven;

his eyes behold, his eyelids test, the children of men.

⁵The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,

and his soul hates him that loves violence.

⁶On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone;

a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.

PSALM 12

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

¹Help, Lord; for there is no longer any that is godly;

for the faithful have vanished from among the sons of men.

²Every one utters lies to his neighbor;

with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

⁴those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is our master?”

⁵“Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,” says the Lord;

“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

⁶The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,

silver refined in a furnace on the ground,

purified seven times.

⁷Do thou, O Lord, protect us,

guard us ever from this generation.

⁸On every side the wicked prowl,

as vileness is exalted among the sons of men.