Psalm 49

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.

¹ Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,

² both low and high, rich and poor together.

³ My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart will utter understanding.

⁴ I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle on the harp.

⁵ Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

⁶ Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches—

⁷ none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.

⁸ For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,

⁹ that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.

¹⁰ For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹ Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.

¹² But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish.

¹³ This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.

¹⁴ They are appointed as a flock for Sheol.¹ Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol,² far from their mansion.

¹⁵ But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,³ for he will receive me. Selah.

¹⁶ Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;

¹⁷ for when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won’t descend after him.

¹⁸ Though while he lived he blessed his soul— and men praise you when you do well for yourself—

¹⁹ he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.

²⁰ A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.