Psalms 49

Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of athe Sons of Korah.

1 bHear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 cboth low and high,
rich and poor together!
3My mouth shall speak dwisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4I will incline my ear to ea proverb;
I will solve my friddle to the music of the lyre.
5 gWhy should I fear in htimes of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6those who itrust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7Truly no man jcan ransom another,
or kgive to God lthe price of his life,
8for mthe ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9that he should live on forever
and nnever see the pit.
10 For he sees othat even the wise die;
pthe fool and the stupid alike must perish
and qleave their wealth to others.
11Their rgraves are their homes forever,
Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew  Their inward thought was that their homes were forever

their dwelling places tto all generations,
though they ucalled lands by their own names.
12Man in his pomp vwill not remain;
whe is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have xfoolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.
Or and of those after them who approve of their boasts
 Selah
14Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright zshall rule over them in the morning.
aaTheir form shall be consumed abin Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15But God will acransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will adreceive me.  Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 aeFor when he dies he will afcarry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18For though, while he lives, he counts himself agblessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19his soul will ahgo to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again aisee light.
20 ajMan in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
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