Psalm 49

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹Hear this, all you peoples;

listen, all who live in this world,

²both low and high,

rich and poor alike:

³My mouth will speak words of wisdom;

the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.

⁴I will turn my ear to a proverb;

with the harp I will expound my riddle:

⁵Why should I fear when evil days come,

when wicked deceivers surround me—

⁶those who trust in their wealth

and boast of their great riches?

⁷No one can redeem the life of another

or give to God a ransom for them—

⁸the ransom for a life is costly,

no payment is ever enough—

⁹so that they should live on forever

and not see decay.

¹⁰For all can see that the wise die,

that the foolish and the senseless also perish,

leaving their wealth to others.

¹¹Their tombs will remain their houses forever,

their dwellings for endless generations,

though they had named lands after themselves.

¹²People, despite their wealth, do not endure;

they are like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,

and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

¹⁴They are like sheep and are destined to die;

death will be their shepherd

(but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).

Their forms will decay in the grave,

far from their princely mansions.

¹⁵But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;

he will surely take me to himself.

¹⁶Do not be overawed when others grow rich,

when the splendor of their houses increases;

¹⁷for they will take nothing with them when they die,

their splendor will not descend with them.

¹⁸Though while they live they count themselves blessed—

and people praise you when you prosper—

¹⁹they will join those who have gone before them,

who will never again see the light of life.

²⁰People who have wealth but lack understanding

are like the beasts that perish.