0 To the Chief Musician, according to the Sheminith {sheminit: lower register}. A Psalm of David {David: anointed king}.
1 Rescue, O LORD {YHWH, Faithful Deliverer}, for the loyal one {khasid: devoted servant} is no more; for those who can be trusted are disappearing from among humankind.
2 They speak vanity {shav: moral emptiness}, every man to his neighbor; with lips of flattery {khalakot: insincere smoothness} and with a double heart they speak.
3 May the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} cut off all flattering lips {siftei khalakot: smooth talkers} and the tongue that speaks great things.
4 Those who say, “With our tongue {lashon: boastful speech} we will prevail; our lips are with us—who is lord {adon: claiming mastery} over us?”
5 “Because of the devastation of the poor and the groaning of the needy, now I will arise,” says the LORD {YHWH, Defender of the Vulnerable}. “I will set him in deliverance {yesha: rescue, safety}, the safety he longs for.”
6 The words of the LORD {YHWH, Truth Speaker} are pure utterances, like silver refined in a crucible on the earth, purified seven times{shiv'atayim: complete perfection}.
7 You {attah: direct address to God}, O LORD {YHWH, Faithful Protector}, will keep them safe; You will preserve us from this generation for all time.
8 The wicked {reshaim: actively evil} move about on every side when what is vile is lifted up among the children of man {adam: universal humanity}.