Zabur 49

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Qarun.

¹Hear this, all you peoples.

Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,

²Both low and high,

Rich and poor together.

³My mouth will speak words of wisdom.

My heart shall utter understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb.

I will open my riddle on the harp.

⁵Why should I fear in the days of evil,

When iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

⁶Those who trust in their wealth,

And boast in the multitude of their riches--

⁷None of them can by any means redeem his brother,

Nor give God a ransom for him.

⁸For the redemption of their life is costly,

No payment is ever enough,

⁹That he should live on forever,

That he should not see corruption.

¹⁰For he sees that wise men die;

Likewise the fool and the senseless perish,

And leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever,

And their dwelling places to all generations.

They name their lands after themselves.

¹²But man, despite his riches, does not endure.

He is like the animals that perish.

¹³This is the destiny of those who are foolish,

And of those who approve their sayings.

Selah.

¹⁴They are appointed as a flock for the grave.

Death shall be their shepherd.

The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.

Their beauty shall decay in the grave,

Far from their mansion.

¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,

For he will receive me.

Selah.

¹⁶Do not be afraid when a man is made rich,

When the glory of his house is increased.

¹⁷For when he dies he shall carry nothing away.

His glory shall not descend after him.

¹⁸Though while he lived he blessed his soul--

And men praise you when you do well for yourself--

¹⁹He shall go to the generation of his fathers.

They shall never see the light.

²⁰A man who has riches without understanding,

Is like the animals that perish.