Psalms 49

Psalms 49:1  
Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,

Psalms 49:2  
both low and high, rich and poor together.

Psalms 49:3  
My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart will utter understanding.

Psalms 49:4  
I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle on the harp.

Psalms 49:5  
Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

Psalms 49:6  
Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches—

Psalms 49:7  
none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.

Psalms 49:8  
For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,

Psalms 49:9  
that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.

Psalms 49:10  
For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.

Psalms 49:11  
Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.

Psalms 49:12  
But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish.

Psalms 49:13  
This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.

Psalms 49:14  
They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.

Psalms 49:15  
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah.

Psalms 49:16  
Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;

Psalms 49:17  
for when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won’t descend after him.

Psalms 49:18  
Though while he lived he blessed his soul— and men praise you when you do well for yourself—

Psalms 49:19  
he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.

Psalms 49:20  
A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.


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