Psalm 49

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.

1Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in the world,

2both low and high, rich and poor alike.

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

4I will turn my ear to a proverb; I will explain my riddle to the music of the lyre.

5Why should I be afraid in days of trouble, when the wickedness of those who dog my heels surrounds me,

6those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?

7No one can by any means redeem a brother or give God a ransom for him,

8for the redemption of their life is costly, and one must give it up forever,

9that he should live on forever and never see the pit.

10For he sees that the wise die; the fool and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others.

11Their inward thought is that their houses will last forever, their dwellings for all generations; they have named lands after themselves.

12But a human being, for all his splendor, does not last; he is like the animals that perish.

13This is the way of those who are foolishly self-confident, and of those after them who approve their words. Selah.

14Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will waste away in Sheol, far from their lofty homes.

15But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol, for he will take me. Selah.

16Do not be afraid when someone grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases,

17for when he dies he will take nothing with him; his splendor will not go down after him.

18Though while he lives he counts himself blessed—and people praise you when you do well for yourself—

19he will join the generation of his ancestors, who will never again see the light.

20A human being in his splendor, without understanding, is like the animals that perish.