1 Help, Lord, for the godly person has come to an end,

For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.

2 They speak *lies to one another;

They speak with *flattering lips and a double heart.

3 May the Lord cut off all *flattering lips,

The tongue that speaks great things;

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

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

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

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

6 The words of the Lord are pure words;

Like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, filtered seven times.

7 You, Lord, will keep them;

You will protect him from this generation forever.

8 The wicked strut about on every side

When *vileness is exalted among the sons of mankind.