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