Hear this, all ye peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world: Both men of low and men of high degree, rich and poor alike. My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding: I will incline mine ear to a parable, I will open my riddle upon the harp. Wherefore should I fear in the days of adversity, when the iniquity of my supplanters encompasseth me? —

⁶They depend upon their wealth, and boast themselves in the abundance of their riches. … ⁷None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, ⁸(For the redemption of their soul is costly, and must be given up for ever,) ⁹That he should still live perpetually, and not see corruption. ¹⁰For he seeth that wise men die; all alike, the fool and the brutish perish, and they leave their wealth to others. ¹¹Their inward thought is, that their houses are for ever, their dwelling-places from generation to generation: they call the lands after their own names. ¹²Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish. ¹³This their way is their folly, yet they that come after them delight in their sayings. Selah. ¹⁴Like sheep are they laid in Sheol: Death feedeth on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their comeliness shall be for Sheol to consume, that there be no habitation for them.

¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol: for he will receive me. Selah. ¹⁶Be not afraid when a man becometh rich, when the glory of his house is increased: ¹⁷For when he dieth, he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him. ¹⁸Though he blessed his soul in his lifetime, —and men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself, — ¹⁹It shall go to the generation of his fathers: they shall never see light. ²⁰Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

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