For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
49:1Hear this, all ye peoples;
Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world,
49:2Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
49:3My mouth shall speak wisdom;
And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
49:4I will incline mine ear to a parable:
I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
49:5Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,
When iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?
49:6They that trust in their wealth,
And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
49:7None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
Nor give to God a ransom for him;
49:8(For the redemption of their life is costly,
And it faileth for ever;)
49:9That he should still live alway,
That he should not see corruption.
49:10For he shall see it. Wise men die;
The fool and the brutish alike perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
49:11Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever,
And their dwelling-places to all generations;
They call their lands after their own names.
49:12But man being in honor abideth not:
He is like the beasts that perish.
49:13This their way is their folly:
Yet after them men approve their sayings.
49:14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
And their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume,
That there be no habitation for it.
49:15But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol;
For he will receive me.
49:16Be not thou afraid when one is made rich,
When the glory of his house is increased.
49:17For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.
49:18Though while he lived he blessed his soul
(And men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself,)
49:19He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never see the light.
49:20Man that is in honor, and understandeth not,
Is like the beasts that perish.
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