Psalm 12

1    Help me, Lord, for no one godly is left;  ♦

the faithful have vanished from the whole human race.

2    They all speak falsely with their neighbour;  ♦

they flatter with their lips, but speak from a double heart.

3    O that the Lord would cut off all flattering lips  ♦

and the tongue that speaks proud boasts!

4    Those who say, ‘With our tongue will we prevail;  ♦

our lips we will use; who is lord over us?’

5    ‘Because of the oppression of the needy,

    and the groaning of the poor,  ♦

I will rise up now,’ says the Lord,

    ‘and set them in the safety that they long for.’

6    The words of the Lord are pure words,  ♦

like silver refined in the furnace

    and purified seven times in the fire.

7    You, O Lord, will watch over us  ♦

and guard us from this generation for ever.

8    The wicked strut on every side,  ♦

when what is vile is exalted by the whole human race.

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000 and published by Church House Publishing.