¹ Hear this, all ye people;
Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
² Both low and high,
Rich and poor, together.
³ My mouth shall speak of 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 the iniquity of my heels shall compass 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 precious,
And it ceaseth for ever:)
⁹ That he should still live for ever,
And not see corruption.

¹⁰ For he seeth that wise men die,
Likewise the fool and the brutish person 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 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not:
He is like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This their way is their folly:
Yet their posterity approve their sayings.

Selah.

¹⁴ Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
And their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
¹⁵ But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave:
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 will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
¹⁹ He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never see light.
²⁰ Man that is in honour, and understandeth not,
Is like the beasts that perish.