[17:5] The Lord says, “I will condemn those who turn away from me and put their trust in human beings, in the strength of mortals.
[17:6] He is like a bush in the desert, which grows in the dry wasteland, on salty ground where nothing else grows. Nothing good ever happens to him.
[17:7] “But I will bless the person who puts his trust in me.
[17:8] He is like a tree growing near a stream and sending out roots to the water. It is not afraid when hot weather comes, because its leaves stay green; it has no worries when there is no rain; it keeps on bearing fruit.
[17:9] “Who can understand the human heart? There is nothing else so deceitful; it is too sick to be healed.
[17:10] I, the Lord, search the minds and test the hearts of people. I treat each of them according to the way they live, according to what they do.”
[17:11] The person who gets money dishonestly is like a bird that hatches eggs it didn't lay. In the prime of life he will lose his riches, and in the end he is nothing but a fool.
[17:12] Our Temple is like a glorious throne, standing on a high mountain from the beginning.
[17:13] Lord, you are Israel's hope; all who abandon you will be put to shame. They will disappear like names written in the dust, because they have abandoned you, the Lord, the spring of fresh water.