Chap. 49
1 To the chief musician; for the sons of Korah, a psalm.
2 Hear ye this, all the peoples; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world,
3 Both low and high, rich and poor together.
4 My mouth speaketh wisdom, and the meditation of my heart [is] understanding.
5 I incline mine ear to a parable, I open upon a harp my riddle.
6 Why should I fear in the days of evil? The iniquity of my supplanters surroundeth me,
7 Those who trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.
8 In no wise can a man redeem a brother, he giveth not to God a ransom for him
9 (But the redemption-price of their soul [is] precious, and it hath ceased forever),
10 That he should still live for ever and not see corruption.
11 For he seeth [that] wise men die; together the fool and the brutish man perish and have left to others their wealth.
12 Their inward thought [is] their houses [shall be] forever, their dwelling-places to generation and generation; they have called their lands by their own names.
13 But man in honor abideth not; he hath become like the cattle, they have been cut off.
14 This their way [is] folly for them; yet those who come after them will take pleasure in their words. Selah.
15 Like the sheep they have laid in the grave; death feedeth upon them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; but their form is to be consumed in the grave from its dwelling.
16 Surely God will redeem my soul from the hand of the grave, for he shall receive me. Selah.
17 Fear thou not when a man becometh rich, when the glory of his house increaseth.
18 For he taketh not all this away when he dieth; his glory shall not descend after him.
19 Though he blesseth his soul in his life, and men will praise thee when thou doest good to thyself,
20 Thou shalt go unto the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.
21 Man in honor and who understandeth not hath become like the cattle; they have been cut off.