¹Hear this, all you peoples;[#Ps 78:1]

give ear, all 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 understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a parable;

I will reveal my riddle with the music of the harp.

⁵Why should I fear in the days of evil,

when the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,

⁶those who trust in their wealth

and boast in the abundance of their riches?

⁷None of them can by any means redeem his brother,

nor give to God a ransom for him,

⁸for the redemption of their souls is costly;[#Job 36:18–19]

and it shall cease forever,

⁹that he should live on eternally,

and never see the pit.

¹⁰For he sees that wise men die;

the fool and the stupid perish,

and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their graves are their perpetual homes,

their dwelling places to all generations,

though they call their lands by their own names.

¹²Nevertheless man cannot remain in his splendor;

he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the way of those who are foolish,[#Lk 12:20]

and of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

Death shall be their shepherd;

the upright shall rule over them in the morning;

their form shall waste away in Sheol,

far from their dwelling.

¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,[#Hos 13:14]

for He will receive me. Selah

¹⁶Do not fear when a man becomes rich,[#Ps 37:7]

when the glory of his house is increased,

¹⁷for when he dies he will take nothing away;

his glory will not descend after him.

¹⁸Though while he lives he blesses himself —[#Dt 29:19; Lk 12:19]

for men will praise you when you do well for yourself—

¹⁹he will go to the generation of his fathers;[#Ge 15:15; Job 33:30]

they will never see light.

²⁰A man who is in his splendor, yet without understanding,

is like the animals that perish.