Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of athe Sons of Korah.
bHear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 aboth low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak awisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to aa proverb;
I will solve my briddle to the music of the lyre.
5 aWhy should I fear in btimes of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who atrust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man acan ransom another,
or bgive to God cthe price of his life,
8 for athe ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and anever see the pit.
10 For he sees athat even the wise die;
bthe fool and the stupid alike must perish
and cleave their wealth to others.
11 Their agraves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places bto all generations,
though they ccalled lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp awill not remain;
bhe is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have afoolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright ashall rule over them in the morning.
bTheir form shall be consumed cin Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will aransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will breceive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 aFor when he dies he will bcarry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself ablessed—
and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will ago to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again bsee light.
20 aMan in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.