Psalms 49

₁Hear this, everyone!

Listen, all people everywhere,

₂great and small alike,

rich and poor together.

₃My thoughts will be clear;

I will speak words of wisdom.

₄I will turn my attention to proverbs

and explain their meaning as I play the harp.

₅I am not afraid in times of danger

when I am surrounded by enemies,

₆by evil people who trust in their riches

and boast of their great wealth.

₇A person can never redeem himself;

he cannot pay God the price for his life,

₈because the payment for a human life is too great.

What he could pay would never be enough

₉to keep him from the grave,

to let him live for ever.

₁₀Anyone can see that even the wise die,

as well as the foolish and stupid.

They all leave their riches to their descendants.

₁₁Their graves are their homes for ever;

there they stay for all time,

though they once had lands of their own.

₁₂No one's greatness can save him from death;

he will still die like the animals.

₁₃See what happens to those who trust in themselves,

the fate of those who are satisfied with their wealth —

₁₄they are doomed to die like sheep,

and Death will be their shepherd.

The righteous will triumph over them,

as their bodies quickly decay

in the world of the dead far from their homes.

₁₅But God will rescue me;

he will save me from the power of death.

₁₆Don't be upset when someone becomes rich,

when his wealth grows even greater;

₁₇he cannot take it with him when he dies;

his wealth will not go with him to the grave.

₁₈Even if he is satisfied with this life

and is praised because he is successful,

₁₉he will join all his ancestors in death,

where the darkness lasts for ever.

₂₀His greatness cannot save him from death;

he will still die like the animals.