Psalm 49

CM

Hear this, you peoples all, take heed,
All who in this world live,
Both high and low, rich or in need,
Wise words my mouth will give.

Now from the utterance of my heart,
Full knowledge you will gain.
My ear to proverbs turns apart;
My harp makes riddles plain.

Why should I fear for evil days,
When wicked li'rs surround -
Who trust in wealth and give self praise
Because their goods abound?

No man another’s life buys back
Or pays to God enough -
The ransom price for life we lack,
No payment is enough -

None always live free from decay.
It's clear that wise men die;
The fool, the senseless, pass away,
They bid their wealth goodbye.

Their tombs their houses will remain,
Their dwellings, endless years,
Though lands for their own selves they named,
Though rich, not one endures.

For man is like the beasts that die.
For those, this fate's reserved,
Who trust themselves or who ally
With them, their speech approved -

Like sheep they to the grave will go
And on them death soon feed.
The upright ruling them they'll know
When morn shall night succeed.

Their forms will moulder in the grave,
Far from their halls of pride.
But God my life from death will save;
He’ll take me to his side.

Despair not when men surge ahead,
Their family fame grown strong;
For he’ll have nothing when he’s dead,
His fame will not last long.

Though while he lived he felt content -
And you’re praised when you thrive -
He to his fathers will be sent
And they will not revive.

Those men will never see the light.
A man whose wealth's heaped high
And yet his mind has no insight
Is like the beasts that die.