Psalm 49

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

¹Listen to this, all you people!

Pay attention, everyone in the world!

²High and low,

rich and poor—listen!

³For my words are wise,

and my thoughts are filled with insight.

⁴I listen carefully to many proverbs

and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.

⁵Why should I fear when trouble comes,

when enemies surround me?

⁶They trust in their wealth

and boast of great riches.

⁷Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death^a

by paying a ransom to God.

⁸Redemption does not come so easily,

for no one can ever pay enough

⁹to live forever

and never see the grave.

¹⁰Those who are wise must finally die,

just like the foolish and senseless,

leaving all their wealth behind.

¹¹The grave^b is their eternal home,

where they will stay forever.

They may name their estates after themselves,

¹²but their fame will not last.

They will die, just like animals.

¹³This is the fate of fools,

though they are remembered as being wise.^c Interlude

¹⁴Like sheep, they are led to the grave,^d

where death will be their shepherd.

In the morning the godly will rule over them.

Their bodies will rot in the grave,

far from their grand estates.

¹⁵But as for me, God will redeem my life.

He will snatch me from the power of the grave. Interlude

¹⁶So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich

and their homes become ever more splendid.

¹⁷For when they die, they take nothing with them.

Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.

¹⁸In this life they consider themselves fortunate

and are applauded for their success.

¹⁹But they will die like all before them

and never again see the light of day.

²⁰People who boast of their wealth don’t understand;

they will die, just like animals.