Psalm 49

PSALM 49

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

¹Hear this, all peoples!

Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high,

rich and poor together!

³My mouth shall speak wisdom;

the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb;

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

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble,

when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,

⁶men who trust in their wealth

and boast of the abundance of their riches?

⁷Truly no man can ransom himself,^o

or give to God the price of his life,

⁸for the ransom of his^p life is costly,

and can never suffice,

⁹that he should continue to live on for ever,

and never see the Pit.

¹⁰Yea, he shall see that even the wise die,

the fool and the stupid alike must perish

and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their graves^q are their homes for ever,

their dwelling places to all generations,

though they named lands their own.

¹²Man cannot abide in his pomp,

he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of those^r who have foolish confidence,

the end of those who are pleased with their portion. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

Death shall be their shepherd;

straight to the grave they descend,^s

and their form shall waste away;

Sheol shall be their home.^t

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

for he will receive me. Selah

¹⁶Be not afraid when one becomes rich,

when the glory^u of his house increases.

¹⁷For when he dies he will carry nothing away;

his glory^u will not go down after him.

¹⁸Though, while he lives, he counts himself happy,

and though a man gets praise when he does well for himself,

¹⁹he will go to the generation of his fathers,

who will never more see the light.

²⁰Man cannot abide in his pomp,

he is like the beasts that perish.