Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

49 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of fthe Sons of Korah.

1  gHear this, all peoples!

Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

2  hboth low and high,

rich and poor together!

3  My mouth shall speak iwisdom;

the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

4  I will incline my ear to ja proverb;

I will solve my kriddle to the music of the lyre.

5  lWhy should I fear in mtimes of trouble,

when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,

6  those who ntrust in their wealth

and boast of the abundance of their riches?

7  Truly no man ocan ransom another,

or pgive to God qthe price of his life,

8  for rthe ransom of their life is costly

and can never suffice,

9  that he should live on forever

and snever see the pit.

10  For he sees tthat even the wise die;

uthe fool and the stupid alike must perish

and vleave their wealth to others.

11  Their wgraves are their homes forever,1

their dwelling places xto all generations,

though they ycalled lands by their own names.

12  Man in his pomp zwill not remain;

ahe is like the beasts that perish.

13  This is the path of those who have bfoolish confidence;

yet after them people approve of their boasts.2 Selah

14  Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

death shall be their shepherd,

and the upright cshall rule over them in the morning.

dTheir form shall be consumed ein Sheol, with no place to dwell.

15  But God will fransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

for he will greceive me. Selah

16  Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,

when the glory of his house increases.

17  hFor when he dies he will icarry nothing away;

his glory will not go down after him.

18  For though, while he lives, he counts himself jblessed

—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—

19  his soul will kgo to the generation of his fathers,

who will never again lsee light.

20  mMan in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.