Psalm XII

Help, Lord, for upright godly men
[from us] are taken hence away;
And from among the sons of men
The faithful [daily] do decay.

Unto his neighbour every one
Dont speak with [lies and] vanity;
With a false double heart they talk,
And lips of [fraud and] flattery.

God will cut off all flattering lips,
[And] the [proud] tongue that speaketh thus,

Our word shall stand; our tongue is ours,
What Lord is [Ruler] over us?

For the oppression of the poor,
And needy's sighs, I'le [now a-] rise,
And them in safety set, saith God,
From those that them [with scorn] despise.

The words of God are words most pure;
Like [purest] silver fully try'd
In earthen furnace, many times
Refin'd and [throughly] purify'd.

Lord, thou wilt thine save and preserve
For ever from this [wicked] race.

The wicked then are bold and brisk,
When vile men get in highest place.