Psalms 49

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 utterance from my heart will give 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 man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him-

⁸the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough-

⁹that he should live on forever and not see decay.

¹⁰For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.

¹²But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.

¹⁵But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah

¹⁶Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases;

¹⁷for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.

¹⁸Though while he lived he counted himself blessed- and men praise you when you prosper-

¹⁹he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life.

²⁰A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.