PSALM 49

The Folly of Trusting in Riches.

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 aHear this, all peoples;

Give ear, all binhabitants of the world,

2 Both alow and high,

Rich and poor together.

3 My mouth will aspeak wisdom,

And the meditation of my heart will be bunderstanding.

4 I will incline my ear to aa proverb;

bI will 1express my criddle on the harp.

5 Why should I afear in days of adversity,

When the iniquity of my 1foes surrounds me,

6 Even those who atrust in their wealth

And boast in the abundance of their riches?

7 No man can by any means aredeem his brother

Or give to God a bransom for him—

8 For athe redemption of 1his soul is costly,

And he should cease trying forever—

9 That he should alive on eternally,

That he should not 1bundergo decay.

10 For he sees that even awise men die;

The bstupid and the senseless alike perish

And cleave their wealth to others.

11 Their 1ainner thought is that their houses bare forever

And their dwelling places to all generations;

They have ccalled their lands after their own names.

12 But aman in his 1pomp will not endure;

He is like the 2beasts that 3perish.

13 This is the away of those who are foolish,

And of those after them who bapprove their words.

1Selah.

14 As sheep they are appointed afor 1Sheol;

Death shall be their shepherd;

And the bupright shall rule over them in the morning,

And their form shall be for 1Sheol cto consume

2So that they have no habitation.

15 But God will aredeem my soul from the 1power of 2Sheol,

For bHe will receive me.

Selah.

16 Do not be afraid awhen a man becomes rich,

When the 1glory of his house is increased;

17 For when he dies he will acarry nothing away;

His 1glory will not descend after him.

18 Though while he lives he acongratulates 1himself—

And though men praise you when you do well for yourself—

19 1He shall ago to the generation of his fathers;

They will never see bthe light.

20 aMan in his 1pomp, yet without understanding,

Is blike the 2beasts that 3perish.