Psalm 49–50

¹To the Overseer.—By sons of Korah. A Psalm. Hear this, all ye peoples, Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world.

²Both low and high, together rich and needy.

³My mouth speaketh wise things, And the meditations of my heart are things of understanding.

⁴I incline to a simile mine ear, I open with a harp my riddle:

⁵Why do I fear in days of evil? The iniquity of my supplanters doth compass me.

⁶Those trusting on their wealth, And in the multitude of their riches, Do shew themselves foolish.

⁷A brother doth no one at all ransom, He doth not give to God his atonement.

⁸And precious is the redemption of their soul, And it hath ceased—to the age.

⁹And still he liveth for ever, He seeth not the pit.

¹⁰For he seeth wise men die, Together the foolish and brutish perish, And have left to others their wealth.

¹¹Their heart is: Their houses are to the age, Their tabernacles to all generations. They proclaimed their names over the lands.

¹²And man in honour doth not remain, He hath been like the beasts, they have been cut off.

¹³This their way is folly for them, And their posterity with their sayings are pleased. Selah.

¹⁴As sheep for Sheol they have set themselves, Death doth afflict them, And the upright rule over them in the morning, And their form is for consumption. Sheol is a dwelling for him.

¹⁵Only, God doth ransom my soul from the hand of Sheol, For He doth receive me. Selah.

¹⁶Fear not, when one maketh wealth, When the honour of his house is abundant,

¹⁷For at his death he receiveth nothing, His honour goeth not down after him.

¹⁸For his soul in his life he blesseth, (And they praise thee when thou dost well for thyself.)

¹⁹It cometh to the generation of his fathers, For ever they see not the light.

²⁰Man in honour, who understandest not, Hath been like the beasts, they have been cut off!

Psalm 50

¹A Psalm of Asaph. The God of gods—Jehovah—hath spoken, And He calleth to the earth From the rising of the sun unto its going in.

²From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shone.

³Our God cometh, and is not silent, Fire before Him doth devour, And round about him it hath been very tempestuous.

⁴He doth call unto the heavens from above, And unto the earth, to judge His people.

⁵Gather ye to Me My saints, Making covenant with Me over a sacrifice.

⁶And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah.

⁷Hear, O My people, and I speak, O Israel, and I testify against thee, God, thy God am I.

⁸Not for thy sacrifices do I reprove thee, Yea, thy burnt-offerings Are before Me continually.

⁹I take not from thy house a bullock, From thy folds he goats.

¹⁰For Mine is every beast of the forest, The cattle on the hills of oxen.

¹¹I have known every fowl of the mountains, And the wild beast of the field is with Me.

¹²If I am hungry I tell not to thee, For Mine is the world and its fulness.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls, And drink the blood of he-goats?

¹⁴Sacrifice to God confession, And complete to the Most High thy vows.

¹⁵And call Me in a day of adversity, I deliver thee, and thou honourest Me.

¹⁶And to the wicked hath God said: What to thee—to recount My statutes? That thou liftest up My covenant on thy mouth?

¹⁷Yea, thou hast hated instruction, And dost cast My words behind thee.

¹⁸If thou hast seen a thief, Then thou art pleased with him, And with adulterers is thy portion.

¹⁹Thy mouth thou hast sent forth with evil, And thy tongue joineth deceit together,

²⁰Thou sittest, against thy brother thou speakest, Against a son of thy mother givest slander.

²¹These thou didst, and I kept silent, Thou hast thought that I am like thee, I reprove thee, and set in array before thine eyes.

²²Understand this, I pray you, Ye who are forgetting God, Lest I tear, and there is no deliverer.

²³He who is sacrificing praise honoureth Me, As to him who maketh a way, I cause him to look on the salvation of God!

Psalm 51