1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
2Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
3both low and high, rich and poor together.
4My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart will utter understanding.
5I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle on the harp.
6Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
7Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches—
8none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.
9For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,
10that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.
11For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
12Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
13But man, despite his riches, doesn't endure. He is like the animals that perish.
14This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.
15They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
16But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah.
17Don't be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
18for when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won't descend after him.
19Though while he lived he blessed his soul— and men praise you when you do well for yourself—
20he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.
21A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.
