For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
Hear this, all ye peoples;
Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world,
Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
I will incline mine ear to a parable:
I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,
When {Or, the iniquity of them that would supplant me compasseth me about, Even of them that trust…riches?}iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?
They that trust in their wealth,
And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
Nor give to God a ransom for him;
(For the redemption of their life is costly,
And it faileth for ever),
That he should still live alway,
That he should not see {Or, the pit}corruption.
For {Or, he seeth that wise men &c.}he shall see it. Wise men die;
The fool and the brutish alike perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
Their 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.
But man being in honor abideth not:
He is like the beasts that perish.
This {Or, is the way of them that are foolish}their way is {Or, their confidence: and after &c.}their folly:
Yet after them men approve their sayings. [Selah
They 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.
But God will redeem my soul from the {Hebrew: hand.}power of Sheol;
For he will receive me. [Selah
Be not thou afraid when one is made rich,
When the {Or, wealth}glory of his house is increased:
For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.
Though while he lived he blessed his soul
(And men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself),
{Hebrew: Thou shall go, or, It shall go.}He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
{Or, Who never more see}They shall never see the light.
Man that is in honor, and understandeth not,
Is like the beasts that perish.
Querverweise zu Psalm 49,13 Ps 49,13
But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night {Greek: they require thy soul.}is thy {Or, life}soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?
But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of {Hebrew: bread.}victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, {Job 5:13.}He that taketh the wise in their craftiness:
Woe unto you! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
So ye are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers: for they killed them, and ye build their tombs.
And he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house;
for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.