Those who trust in human wisdom will not prosper. Those who trust in God will have all of their needs met. The person depending on the power of other people is compared to a bush in the desert which always has to struggle for life. But the person trusting in God is like a tree growing by a stream and has all his needs supplied. The ULB sets poetry (17:1-18) farther to the right to show that it is poetry. This poem is a continuation of 16:19-21, and should be seen as one section.