✧1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all ye peoples; Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world, ✧2Both low and high, Rich and poor together. ✧3My mouth shall speak wisdom; And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. ✧4I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp. ✧5Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, When iniquity at my heels compasseth me about? ✧6They that trust in their wealth, And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; ✧7None [of them] can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him ✧8(For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever), ✧9That he should still live alway, That he should not see corruption.
American Standard Version (ASV). American Standard Version (1901). Public domain.
✧10For he shall see it. Wise men die; The fool and the brutish alike perish, And leave their wealth to others.
✧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.
✧12But man [being] in honor abideth not: He is like the beasts that perish.
✧13This their way is their folly: Yet after them men approve their sayings. [Selah
✧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.
✧15But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; For he will receive me. [Selah
✧16Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, When the glory of his house is increased:
✧17For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him.
✧18Though while he lived he blessed his soul (And men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself),
✧19He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see the light.
✧20Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, Is like the beasts that perish.