Psalm 49

Modern

Literal

The Evanescence of Wealth

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

Hear this, all you peoples;

listen, all inhabitants of the world,

¹For the one directing. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm. Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all you dwellers of the world,

²both low and high,

rich and poor alike.

²both sons of a man and sons of a great man, the rich and the poor together!

³My mouth will impart wisdom,

and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.

³My mouth will speak wisdom, and a declaration of my heart, understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will express my riddle with the harp:

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will open up my riddle with the harp.

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble,

when wicked usurpers surround me?

⁵Why should I fear in the days of evil, the perversion that surrounds me at my heels,

⁶They trust in their wealth

and boast in their great riches.

⁶those trusting in their wealth, and who boast in the abundance of their riches?

⁷No man can possibly redeem his brother^a

or pay his ransom to God.

⁷A brother surely cannot ransom a man, and he cannot give to God his redemption price.

⁸For the redemption of his soul is costly,

and never can payment suffice,

⁸For costly is the ransom of their soul, and it shall cease forever,

⁹that he should live on forever

and not see decay.

⁹that he might live on forever, and not see the Pit.

¹⁰For it is clear that wise men die,

and the foolish and the senseless both perish

and leave their wealth to others.

¹⁰For he sees wise men die; the fool and the senseless one perish together, and they leave their wealth for others.

¹¹Their graves^a are their eternal homes—

their dwellings for endless generations—

even though their lands were their namesakes.

¹¹Their inward thoughts are their homes forever, their dwelling places from generation to generation, they proclaimed over the lands their own names.

¹²But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure;

he is like the beasts that perish.

¹²And man in his wealth does not remain; he becomes like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of the foolish^a

and their followers who endorse their sayings.

Selah

¹³This is their path of folly for them, and after them in their sayings they took delight. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are destined for Sheol.

Death will be their shepherd.

The upright will rule them in the morning,

and their form will decay in Sheol,

far from their lofty abode.

¹⁴like sheep they are appointed for Sheol, and death will be their shepherd; the upright will rule over them in the morning, and their form shall be consumed in Sheol—the habitation for him.

¹⁵But God will redeem my life from Sheol,

for He will surely take me to Himself.

Selah

¹⁵Surely God will redeem my soul from the hand of Sheol, for He shall take me. Selah

¹⁶Do not be afraid when a man grows rich,

when the splendor of his house increases.

¹⁶do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases.

¹⁷For when he dies, he will carry nothing away;

his abundance will not follow him down.

¹⁷For in his death he will take of it all nothing; his glory will not go down after him,

¹⁸Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—

and men praise you when you prosper—

¹⁸though his soul, in his living, he blesses, and they praise you when you do well for yourself.

¹⁹he will join the generation of his fathers,

who will never see the light of day.

¹⁹He will come to the generation of his fathers; even to forever they shall not see light.

²⁰A man who has riches without understanding

is like the beasts that perish.

²⁰A man in his splendor does not understand; he is like the beasts that perish!