Psalm 49

¹Hear this, all ye peoples; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:

²Both low and high, rich and poor together.

³My mouth shall speak wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

⁴I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

⁵Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?

⁶They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

⁷None of themcan by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

⁸(For the redemption of their soul is costly, and must be let alone for ever:)

⁹That he should still live alway, that he should not see corruption.

¹⁰For he seeth that wise men die, the fool and the brutish together perish, and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their inward thought is, thattheir houses shall continuefor ever, andtheir dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.

¹²But man abideth not in honour: he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This their way is their folly: yet after them men approve their sayings.

¹⁴They are appointed as a flock for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd: and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume, that there be no habitation for it.

¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol: for he shall receive me.

¹⁶Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased:

¹⁷For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him.

¹⁸Though while he lived he blessed his soul, and men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself,

¹⁹He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see the light.

²⁰Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.