Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t put your trust in princes, each a son of man in whom there is no help.
- KJV Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
- NKJV Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
- NASB Do not trust in noblemen, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
- NLT Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.
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
Do not trust in princes or any mortal, for they cannot ultimately save. Human power is no secure foundation for hope.
Overview
The psalm warns against placing ultimate confidence in human rulers, however mighty, since they are merely mortal men 'in whom there is no help' to save. This redirects trust away from earthly powers toward God alone. Only Christ, both Son of Man and Lord, is the helper who truly saves.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 118:8–9It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Jer 17:5–6This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Isa 2:22Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Ps 108:12Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
- Isa 31:3But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.
- Ps 62:9Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
- Isa 37:6who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
- Ps 60:11Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 146:3 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.