Psalms - Chapter 49 | English Standard Version

  • 1. To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
  • 2. both low and high, rich and poor together!
  • 3. My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
  • 4. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
  • 5. Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
  • 6. those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
  • 7. Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
  • 8. for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,
  • 9. that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
  • 10. For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
  • 11. Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names.
  • 12. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.
  • 13. This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah.
  • 14. Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
  • 15. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah.
  • 16. Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases.
  • 17. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.
  • 18. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed, --and though you get praise when you do well for yourself--
  • 19. his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light.
  • 20. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
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