Psalms 49:1-14

¹For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Hear 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 will utter understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve 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, doesn’t 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 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.