Answering Genie's question about the origins of God helps those ...:
There is a German proverb (not from the Bible) Hilf dir selbst, so hilft dir Gott i.e. Help yourself, so God will help you.
Another well known misquotation in Germany is from one of Juvenal's odes: mens sana in corpore sano i.e. a sound mind in a sound body. It can often be found in gyms, regularly misunderstood as: If you train your body with sports, you will improve your mind.
In the original there is an utterly different meaning. Juvenal writes about praying and says: "Don't pray for a lot of nonsense, don't make to many words. If you pray, beg at first for a sound mind in a sound body."
You may compare this with Jesus' words: "If you pray ..." introducing the Lord's Prayer.
Special thanks to Wolfgang for correcting the misquotation of Biermann's line about the soldiers.

Wilfried