For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
1Listen to this, all you people!Pay attention, everyone in the world!
2 High and low,rich and poor—listen!
3 For my words are wise,and my thoughts are filled with insight.
4 I listen carefully to many proverbsand solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.
5Why should I fear when trouble comes,when enemies surround me?
6 They trust in their wealthand boast of great riches.
7 Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death Or no one can redeem the life of another.by paying a ransom to God.
8 Redemption does not come so easily,for no one can ever pay enough
9 to live foreverand never see the grave.
10Those who are wise must finally die,just like the foolish and senseless,leaving all their wealth behind.
11 The grave is their eternal home,where they will stay forever.They may name their estates after themselves,
12 but their fame will not last.They will die, just like animals.
13 This is the fate of fools,though they are remembered as being wise. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.Interlude
14Like sheep, they are led to the grave, Hebrew Sheol; also in 49:14b, 15.where death will be their shepherd.In the morning the godly will rule over them.Their bodies will rot in the grave,far from their grand estates.
15 But as for me, God will redeem my life.He will snatch me from the power of the grave.Interlude
16So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow richand their homes become ever more splendid.
17 For when they die, they take nothing with them.Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.
18 In this life they consider themselves fortunateand are applauded for their success.
19 But they will die like all before themand never again see the light of day.
20 People who boast of their wealth don’t understand;they will die, just like animals.
Sermon Central