Psalm 49 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

Psa 49:1To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

Psa 49:2

Psa 49:2both low and high,
rich and poor together!

Psa 49:3

Psa 49:3My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

Psa 49:4

Psa 49:4I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

Psa 49:5

Psa 49:5Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,

Psa 49:6

Psa 49:6those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?

Psa 49:7

Psa 49:7Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,

Psa 49:8

Psa 49:8for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,

Psa 49:9

Psa 49:9that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.

Psa 49:10

Psa 49:10For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.

Psa 49:11

Psa 49:11Their graves are their homes forever,[fn]
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.

Psa 49:12

Psa 49:12Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.

Psa 49:13

Psa 49:13This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.[fn] Selah

Psa 49:14

Psa 49:14Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.

Psa 49:15

Psa 49:15But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah

Psa 49:16

Psa 49:16Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.

Psa 49:17

Psa 49:17For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.

Psa 49:18

Psa 49:18For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—

Psa 49:19

Psa 49:19his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.

Psa 49:20

Psa 49:20Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(49:11)

Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Their inward thought was that their homes were forever

(49:13)

Or and of those after them who approve of their boasts

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