[1] Hear this, all ye peoples; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
[2] Both low and high, rich and poor together.
[3] My mouth shall speak wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
[4] I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
[5] Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?
[6] They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
[7] None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
[8] (For the redemption of their soul is costly, and must be let alone for ever:)
[9] That he should still live alway, that he should not see corruption.
[10] For he seeth that wise men die, the fool and the brutish together perish, and leave their wealth to others.
[11] Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
[12] But man abideth not in honour: he is like the beasts that perish.
[13] This their way is their folly: yet after them men approve their sayings. Selah
[14] They are appointed as a flock for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd: and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume, that there be no habitation for it.
[15] But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol: for he shall receive me. Selah
[16] Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased:
[17] For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him.
[18] Though while he lived he blessed his soul, and men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself,
[19] He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see the light.
[20] Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.