Psa 62:9, 118:8-9, 146:3-4, Isa 2:22, 30:1-7, Isa 31, 36:6 | ESV | STEP | Those of low estate are but a breath ; those of high estate are a delusion ; in the balances they go up ; they are together lighter than a breath .

9 ^aThose of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate ^bare a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
^cthey are together lighter than a breath.

Psalms 118:8-9

8 ^dIt is better to take refuge in the Lord
^ethan to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
^fthan to trust in princes.

Psalms 146:3-4

3 ^gPut not your trust in princes,
^hin a son of man, in whom there is ⁱno salvation.
4 When ^jhis breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

Isaiah 2:22

22 ^kStop regarding man
^lin whose nostrils is breath,
for of what account is he?

Isaiah 30:1-7

Do Not Go Down to Egypt

1 “Ah, ^mstubborn children,” declares the Lord,
ⁿ“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make ^oan alliance, ^{▼▼Hebrew who weave a web} but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 ^qwho set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 ^rTherefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at ^sZoan
and ^this envoys reach ^uHanes,
5 everyone comes to shame
through ^va people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
6 An ^woracle on ^xthe beasts of ^ythe Negeb.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the adder and the ^zflying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
7 Egypt’s ^aahelp is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
^ab“Rahab who sits still.”

Isaiah 31

Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt

1 Woe to ^acthose who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who ^adtrust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but ^aedo not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
2 And ^afyet he is wise and brings disaster;
^aghe does not call back his words,
but ^ahwill arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of ^aithose who work iniquity.
3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses ^ajare flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
4 For thus the Lord said to me,
^ak“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
^also the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight ^{▼▼The Hebrew words for hosts and to fight sound alike} on Mount Zion and on its hill.
5 ^anLike birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”
6 ^aoTurn to him from whom people ^{▼▼Hebrew they} have ^aqdeeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day ^areveryone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.

8 ^as“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
and he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be ^atput to forced labor.
9 ^auHis rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
declares the Lord, whose ^avfire is in Zion,
and whose ^awfurnace is in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 36:6

6 ^axBehold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.