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Psalms 49. Audite haec, omnes.
O HEAR ye this, all ye people; * ponder it with your ears, all
ye that dwell in the world;
2 High and low, rich and poor, * one with another.
3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, * and my heart shall muse of
understanding.
4 I will incline mine ear to the parable, * and show my dark
speech upon the harp.
5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, * when wickedness
at my heels compasseth me round about?
6 There be some that put their trust in their goods, * and boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches.
7 But no man may deliver his brother, * nor give a ransom unto
God for him,
8 (For it cost more to redeem their souls, * so that he must
let that alone for ever;)
9 That he shall live alway, * and not see the grave.
10 For he seeth that wise men also die and perish together, *
as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for
other.
11 And yet they think that their houses shall continue for ever,
and that their dwelling-places shall endure from one generation
to another; * and call the lands after their own names.
12 Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not, * seeing he
may be compared unto the beasts that perish;
13 This their way is very foolishness; * yet their posterity
praise their saying.
14 They lie in the grave like sheep; death is their shepherd;
and the righteous shall have dominion over them in the morning:
* their beauty shall consume in the sepulchre, and have no abiding.
15 But God hath delivered my soul from the power of the grave;
* for he shall receive me.
16 Be not thou afraid, though one be made rich, * or if the glory
of his house be increased;
17 For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth, *
neither shall his pomp follow him.
18 For while he lived, he counted himself an happy man; * and
so long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good
of thee.
19 He shall follow the generation of his fathers, * and shall
never see light.
20 Man that is in honour but hath no understanding * is compared
unto the beasts that perish.
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