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You, Lord, will keep them; You will protect him from this generation forever.
Psalms 12:7 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB You will keep them, Yahweh. You will preserve them from this generation forever.
  • KJV Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
  • BSB You, O LORD, will keep us; You will forever guard us from this generation.
  • NKJV You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
  • NLT Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation,

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Yahweh will keep and preserve His people from this corrupt generation forever. God guards the faithful amid a faithless world.

Overview

David trusts that the God whose words are pure will also protect His people permanently. Some take 'them' as God's words, others as the oppressed; faithful interpreters read it either way, and both are true to Scripture. The verse assures believers of God's keeping power even in a wicked age.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • 1 Sam 2:9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness; for no man shall prevail by strength.
  • Ps 121:8Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.
  • Ps 37:40Yahweh helps them, and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, Because they have taken refuge in him.
  • Ps 145:20Yahweh preserves all those who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
  • 1 Pet 1:5who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
  • Isa 27:3I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day.
  • Deut 33:3Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words.
  • Ps 10:18to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.
  • Ps 37:28For Yahweh loves justice, and doesn’t forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
  • Ps 16:1A Poem by David. Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
  • Matt 3:7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
  • Jude 1:1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 12:7YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 12:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.