1 Save and help and rescue, Lord, for godly people cease to be,

For the faithful vanish from among the sons of men.

2 They speak deceitful and worthless words to one another;

With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

The tongue that speaks great things [in boasting];

4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail;

Our lips are our own; who is lord and master over us?"

5 "Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,

Now I will arise," says the Lord; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs."

6 The words and promises of the Lord are pure words,

Like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.

7 You, O Lord, will preserve and keep them;

You will protect him from this [evil] generation forever.

8 The wicked strut about [in pompous self-importance] on every side,

As vileness is exalted and baseness is prized among the sons of men.