Psalm 12

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.

¹“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.

¹²Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

¹³rebelling and denying the Lord, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

¹⁴So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.

²¹See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!

²²Your silver has become dross; your fine wine is diluted with water.

¹For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments, according to Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath.

¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

⁸Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.

⁶My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁸whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

⁹For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.

²¹Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

⁵The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.

⁸While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.

¹⁰They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.

³⁰the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”

³¹While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.

¹⁸With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

⁵In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

¹⁴Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

⁴He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

²But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

¹⁸Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

¹⁵Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the statue I have made, very good. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”

⁶This poor man called out, and the Lord heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.

³¹Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

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.

⁷He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free,

⁸the Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts those who are weighed down, the Lord loves the righteous.

¹⁰“Now I will arise,” says the Lord. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.

⁸Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.

⁹Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the Lord, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.

⁵Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

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.

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.

⁸The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

¹⁰For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver.

¹⁴⁰Your promise is completely pure; therefore Your servant loves it.

⁹He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.

⁸The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

⁴⁰The Lord helps and delivers them; He rescues and saves them from the wicked, because they take refuge in Him.

⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

²⁰The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.

¹⁸to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed, that the men of the earth may strike terror no more.

⁶³At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses?

⁶⁴You have heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death.

¹²If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.

¹⁰Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within.

¹¹Destruction is within; oppression and deceit never leave the streets.

¹¹Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols.

⁴The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.

⁵No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel be respected.

⁶And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.

⁷In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the Pur (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman to determine a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.