Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t put your trust in princes, each a son of man in whom there is no help.
- BSB Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- 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 trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
- Jer 17:5–6Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
- Isa 2:22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
- Ps 108:12Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
- Isa 31:3Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
- Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
- Isa 37:6And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
- Ps 60:11Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
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.