Psalm 49

1 For the one directing. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm. <span class=|reftext|><a href=|#|><b>1</b></a> Hear this, all [you] peoples; give ear, all [you] dwellers of the world,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 like 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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