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

⁸ It is better to take refuge in the Lord^(A)
    than to trust in humans.^(B)
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.^(C)

³ Do not put your trust in princes,^(A)
    in human beings,^(B) who cannot save.
⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;^(C)
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.^(D)

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

“As a lion^(Q) growls,
    a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds^(R)
    is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
    or disturbed by their clamor^(S)—
so the Lord Almighty will come down^(T)
    to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
⁵ Like birds hovering^(U) overhead,
    the Lord Almighty will shield^(V) Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver^(W) it,
    he will ‘pass over’^(X) it and will rescue it.”

⁸ “Assyria^(AD) will fall by no human sword;
    a sword, not of mortals, will devour^(AE) them.
They will flee before the sword
    and their young men will be put to forced labor.^(AF)
9 Their stronghold^(AG) will fall because of terror;
    at the sight of the battle standard^(AH) their commanders will panic,^(AI)”
declares the Lord,
    whose fire^(AJ) is in Zion,
    whose furnace^(AK) is in Jerusalem.

Through a land of hardship and distress,^(Q)
    of lions^(R) and lionesses,
    of adders and darting snakes,^(S)
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’^(T) backs,
    their treasures^(U) on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
⁷     to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.^(V)
Therefore I call her
    Rahab^(W) the Do-Nothing.

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.