Psalms 49:1-11

¹For the leader. Of the Korahites. A psalm. Hear this, you peoples all; give ear, all you who live in the world

²people of low degree and high, the rich and the poor together.

³My mouth shall utter wisdom, the thoughts of a seeing heart.

⁴I incline my ear to a proverb, on the lyre I will open my riddle.

⁵Why should I be afraid in the days of misfortune, when circled by wicked and cunning foes,

⁶who put their trust in their wealth, and boast of their boundless riches?

⁷For assuredly no one can ransom themselves, or give to God the price of their life,

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

⁹to keep them alive for ever and ever, so as never to see the pit at all.

¹⁰But see it they will. Even wise people die, the fool and the brutish perish alike, and abandon their wealth to others.

¹¹The grave is their everlasting home, the place they shall live in for ever and ever, though after their own names they called whole lands.