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Psalm 49

¹Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high, rich and poor together.

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

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,

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

⁷Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life, there is no price one can give to God for it.

⁸For the ransom of life is costly, and can never suffice

⁹that one should live on forever and never see the grave.

¹⁰When we look at the wise, they die; fool and dolt perish together and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they named lands their own.

¹²Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.

¹³Such is the fate of the foolhardy, the end of those who are pleased with their lot. Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home.

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

¹⁶Do not be afraid when some become rich, when the wealth of their houses increases.

¹⁷For when they die they will carry nothing away; their wealth will not go down after them.

¹⁸Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy—for you are praised when you do well for yourself—

¹⁹they will go to the company of their ancestors, who will never again see the light.

²⁰Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.

Psalm 53

¹Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; there is no one who does good.

²God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.

³They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.

⁴Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?

⁵There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.