49
The Folly of Trusting in Riches.
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 AHear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all
Binhabitants of the world,
Rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will
Aspeak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart
will be Bunderstanding.
4 I will incline my ear to
Aa proverb;
BI will
1express my
Criddle on the harp.
5 Why should I
Afear in days of adversity,
When the iniquity of my
1foes surrounds me,
6 Even those who
Atrust in their wealth
And boast in the abundance of their riches?
7 No man can by any means
Aredeem
his brother
Or give to God a
Bransom for him—
8 For
Athe redemption of
1his soul is costly,
And he should cease trying forever—
9 That he should
Alive on eternally,
That he should not
1Bundergo decay.
10 For he sees
that even Awise men die;
The
Bstupid and the senseless alike perish
And
Cleave their wealth to others.
11 Their
1Ainner thought is
that their houses
Bare forever
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have
Ccalled their lands after their own names.
12 But
Aman in
his 1pomp will not endure;
He is like the
2beasts that
3perish.
13 This is the
Away of those who are foolish,
And of those after them who
Bapprove their words.
1Selah.
14 As sheep they are appointed
Afor
1Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
And the
Bupright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form shall be for
1Sheol
Cto consume
2So that they have no habitation.
15 But God will
Aredeem my soul from the
1power of
2Sheol,
For
BHe will receive me. Selah.
16 Do not be afraid
Awhen a man becomes rich,
When the
1glory of his house is increased;
17 For when he dies he will
Acarry nothing away;
His
1glory will not descend after him.
18 Though while he lives he
Acongratulates
1himself—
And though men praise you when you do well for yourself—
19 1He shall
Ago to the generation of his fathers;
They will never see
Bthe light.
20 AMan in
his 1pomp, yet without understanding,
Is
Blike the
2beasts that
3perish.