Psalms 49

New International Version

• 1. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world,
• 2. both low and high, rich and poor alike:
• 3. My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the utterance from my heart will give understanding.
• 4. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle:
• 5. Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me-
• 6. those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?
• 7. No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him-
• 8. the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough-
• 9. that he should live on forever and not see decay.
• 10. For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others.
• 11. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.
• 12. But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish.
• 13. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah
• 14. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.
• 15. But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah
• 16. Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases;
• 17. for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.
• 18. Though while he lived he counted himself blessed- and men praise you when you prosper-
• 19. he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life.
• 20. A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

New International Version