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12 O grant us help against the foe,
    for human help is worthless.

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Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
    and make mere flesh their strength,
    whose hearts turn away from the Lord.(A)
They shall be like a shrub in the desert
    and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salt land.(B)

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.(C)
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
    sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
    and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
    and it does not cease to bear fruit.(D)

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17 Our eyes failed, ever watching
    vainly for help;
we were watching eagerly
    for a nation that could not save.(A)

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The Egyptians are human and not God;
    their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
    the helper will stumble, and the one helped will fall,
    and they will all perish together.(A)

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Therefore the protection of Pharaoh shall become your shame,
    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt your humiliation.(A)
For though his officials are at Zoan
    and his envoys reach Hanes,(B)
everyone comes to shame
    through a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
    only shame and disgrace.(C)

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22 [[Turn away from mortals,
    who have only breath in their nostrils,
    for of what account are they?]][a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 2.22 Gk OL lack 2.22

Do not put your trust in princes,
    in mortals, in whom there is no help.(A)
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
    on that very day their plans perish.(B)

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God,(C)

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Psalm 20

Prayer for Victory

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

The Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
    The name of the God of Jacob protect you!(A)
May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and give you support from Zion.(B)
May he remember all your offerings
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. Selah(C)

May he grant you your heart’s desire
    and fulfill all your plans.(D)
May we shout for joy over your victory
    and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.(E)

Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with mighty victories by his right hand.(F)
Some take pride in chariots and some in horses,
    but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.(G)
They will collapse and fall,
    but we shall rise and stand upright.(H)

Give victory to the king, O Lord;
    answer us when we call.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 20.9 Gk: Heb give victory, O Lord; let the King answer us when we call

“I have heard many such things;
    miserable comforters are you all.

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13 “God will not turn back his anger;
    the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.(A)

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