Psalm 49
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
1 Hear
this, all you peoples.
Listen, all you inhabitants of
the world,
2 both low
and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth
will speak words of wisdom.
My heart will utter understanding.
4 I
will incline my ear
to a proverb.
I will solve
my riddle on
the harp.
5 Why should I fear
in the days
of evil,
when iniquity at my heels surrounds
me?
6 Those
who trust in
their wealth,
and boast in
the multitude of
their riches—
7 none of
them can by any means redeem
his brother,
nor give God a ransom
for him.
8 For
the redemption of
their life is costly,
no payment is
ever enough,
9 that
he should live on forever,
that he should
not see corruption.
10 For
he sees that wise
men die;
likewise the fool and
the senseless perish,
and leave their
wealth to others.
11 Their inward
thought is that
their houses will endure forever,
and their dwelling places
to all generations.
They name their lands
after themselves.
12 But man,
despite his riches, doesn’t
endure.
He is like
the animals that perish.
13 This is
the destiny of those who
are foolish,
and of those who approve their sayings.
Selah.
14 They
are appointed as
a flock for Sheol.
Death shall be
their shepherd.
The upright shall
have dominion over them
in the morning.
Their beauty shall decay
in Sheol,
far from their mansion.
15 But God
will redeem my soul
from the power of
Sheol,
for he
will receive me.
Selah.
16 Don’t
be afraid when a
man is made rich,
when the glory of
his house is increased;
17 for
when he dies he
will carry nothing away.
His glory won’t descend
after him.
18 Though
while he lived
he blessed his
soul—
and men praise
you when you
do well for yourself—
19 he
shall go to
the generation of
his fathers.
They shall never see
the light.
20 A
man who has riches
without understanding,
is like
the animals that perish.