1 Vir die musiekleier. Van die kinders van Korag. 'n Psalm.
2 Hoor dit, alle volke, luister, alle bewoners van die wêreld,
3 geringes sowel as aansienlikes, tesame ryk en arm!
4 My mond sal louter wysheid spreek, en die oordenking van my hart is net verstand.
5 Ek sal my oor neig tot 'n spreuk; ek sal my raaisel verklaar by die siter.
6 Waarom sou ek vrees in dae van onheil, as die ongeregtigheid van my onderkruipers my omring --
7 die wat vertrou op hulle vermoë en hulle beroem op die grootheid van hulle rykdom?
8 Niemand kan ooit 'n broer loskoop nie; hy kan aan God sy losprys nie gee nie
10 dat hy vir ewig sou voortlewe, die vernietiging nie sou sien nie.
11 Want hy sien: wyse manne sterwe, die dwaas en die onverstandige kom tesame om en laat hulle vermoë aan ander na.
12 Hulle binneste gedagte is: hul huise sal vir ewig wees, hul wonings van geslag tot geslag; hulle noem die lande na hul name.
13 Maar die mens wat in aansien is, hou nie stand nie; hy is soos die diere wat vergaan.
14 Dit is die weg van die wat op hulleself vertrou, en van hulle volgelinge wat in hul woorde 'n behae het. Sela.
15 Soos skape word hulle bestem vir die doderyk; die dood is hulle herder, en die opregtes heers oor hulle in die môre ; en hulle gestalte is daar vir die doderyk om te verteer, sodat daarvoor geen woning meer is nie.
16 Maar God sal my siel loskoop van die mag van die doderyk, want Hy sal my opneem. Sela.
17 Wees nie bevrees as 'n man ryk word, as die rykdom van sy huis groot word nie;
18 want by sy dood sal hy van alles niks saamneem nie; sy heerlikheid sal nie neerdaal agter hom aan nie.
19 Al ag hy homself gelukkig in sy lewe -- en prys hulle jou, omdat jy aan jouself goed doen --
20 tog gaan sy siel na die geslag van sy vaders; tot in ewigheid sal hulle die lig nie sien nie. [ (Psalms 49:21) Die mens wat in aansien is en geen verstand het nie, is soos die diere wat vergaan. ]
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 life is costly,
And it faileth for ever),
9 That he should still live alway,
That he should not see corruption.
10 For he shall see it. Wise men die;
The fool and the brutish alike 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 being in honor abideth not:
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 will 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 honor, and understandeth not,
Is like the beasts that perish.