For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument. Hebrew according to the sheminith.
1Help, O LORD, for the godly are fast disappearing!The faithful have vanished from the earth!
2 Neighbors lie to each other,speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
3 May the LORD cut off their flattering lipsand silence their boastful tongues.
4 They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”
5The LORD replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,and I have heard the groans of the poor.Now I will rise up to rescue them,as they have longed for me to do.”
6 The LORD’s promises are pure,like silver refined in a furnace,purified seven times over.
7 Therefore, LORD, we know you will protect the oppressed,preserving them forever from this lying generation,
8 even though the wicked strut about,and evil is praised throughout the land.
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