Psalms · 8 verses
Psalms 12
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The LORD promises to keep his people forever, and the psalm ends by saying that the wicked still wander freely.
Vanished faithfulnessvv. 1–4
David opens with a plea for help because the godly have disappeared and the faithful have vanished. Human speech has become a small theatre of treachery: lies, flattering lips, double hearts, and tongues boasting that nobody can master them. The prayer therefore asks the LORD to cut off the very lips and tongues doing the boasting.
Flawless words, unfinished troublevv. 5–8
Then the LORD speaks for the oppressed and the needy, promising to arise and bring safety to the one who yearns. His words are flawless—silver refined in a furnace, and gold purified sevenfold, an almost comically exact standard in a psalm surrounded by human verbal slipperiness. The LORD will keep and guard his people from their generation; yet the final line leaves the wicked wandering freely, with vileness exalted among men.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Ps 12:1For the choirmaster. According to Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
Ps 12:2They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
Ps 12:3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue.
Ps 12:4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”
Ps 12:5“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
Ps 12:6The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace, like gold purified sevenfold.
Ps 12:7You, O LORD, will keep us; You will forever guard us from this generation.
Ps 12:8The wicked wander freely, and vileness is exalted among men.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 115 passages were voted onto 8 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 5Psalms 34:6This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
- 6Proverbs 30:5Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
- 5Proverbs 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- 5James 5:4Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- 5Micah 7:8–9Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- 5Isaiah 33:10“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.
- 5Exodus 2:23–24After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
- 5Job 5:15He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful.
- 6Psalms 18:30As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- 5Job 5:21You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and will not fear havoc when it comes.
- 62 Samuel 22:31As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- 5Psalms 74:21–22Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.
- 5Isaiah 19:20It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them.
- 6Psalms 19:8The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
- 5Ezekiel 18:18As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.
- 1Isaiah 57:1The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous are taken away from the presence of evil.
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