²² Stop trusting in mere humans,^(A)
    who have but a breath^(B) in their nostrils.
    Why hold them in esteem?^(C)

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^(A)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.^(B)

³ Do not put your trust in princes,^(A)
    in human beings,^(B) who cannot save.

³ Lord, what are human beings^(A) that you care for them,
    mere mortals that you think of them?
⁴ They are like a breath;^(B)
    their days are like a fleeting shadow.^(C)

⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?^[a](A)

¹⁵ Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
    they are regarded as dust on the scales;^(A)
    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.^(B)

⁹ Surely the lowborn^(A) are but a breath,^(B)
    the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance,^(C) they are nothing;
    together they are only a breath.