Jeremiah 17:5
Jeremiah 17:55This 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.
Read as a warning against trusting in worldly governments, secular authorities, or rival religious bodies — and never applied inwardly to the Watchtower's own claim to be Jehovah's sole channel of communication. When a Witness is encouraged to "trust the slave class" or to wait on Jehovah's organisation rather than independent Bible study, the verse is not allowed to interrogate that very instruction.
Jeremiah's curse is broad: anyone who "puts his trust in mere humans" and whose "heart turns away from Jehovah." Pair the verse with — "do not put your trust in princes" — and ask the gentle question: whatever organisation a person is in, does it ask them to trust an institutional voice in a way that competes with their direct trust in Jehovah's own word? The Berean test of is the exact opposite posture: noble believers checked even the Apostle Paul against Scripture. cannot be aimed only outward; the same verse asks every reader whether their functional trust is in mortal authority or in the living Word.