Psalm 49

The Foolishness of Trusting in Riches^f

49 Hear this, everyone!

Listen, all people everywhere,

²great and small alike,

rich and poor together.

³My thoughts will be clear;

I will speak words of wisdom.

⁴I will turn my attention to proverbs

and explain their meaning as I play the harp.

⁵I am not afraid in times of danger

when I am surrounded by enemies,

⁶by evil people who trust in their riches

and boast of their great wealth.

⁷A person can never redeem himself;

he cannot pay God the price for his life,

⁸because the payment for a human life is too great.

What he could pay would never be enough

⁹to keep him from the grave,

to let him live for ever.

¹⁰Anyone can see that even the wise die,

as well as the foolish and stupid.

They all leave their riches to their descendants.

¹¹Their graves^g are their homes for ever;

there they stay for all time,

though they once had lands of their own.

¹²No one’s greatness can save him from death;

he will still die like the animals.

¹³See what happens to those who trust in themselves,

the fate of those^h who are satisfied with their wealth-

¹⁴they are doomed to die like sheep,

and Death will be their shepherd.

The righteous will triumph over them,

as their bodies quickly decay

in the world of the dead far from their homes.ⁱ

¹⁵But God will rescue me;

he will save me from the power of death.

¹⁶Don’t be upset when someone becomes rich,

when his wealth grows even greater;

¹⁷he cannot take it with him when he dies;

his wealth will not go with him to the grave.

¹⁸Even if he is satisfied with this life

and is praised because he is successful,

¹⁹he will join all his ancestors in death,

where the darkness lasts for ever.

²⁰His greatness cannot save him from death;

he will still die like the animals.