Psalm 49

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah ^1-2Listen, everyone, listen— earth-dwellers, don't miss this.
   All you haves
      and have-nots,
   All together now: listen.

^3-4    I set plainspoken wisdom before you,
      my heart-seasoned understandings of life.
   I fine-tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise,
      I solve life's riddle with the help of a harp.

^5-6    So why should I fear in bad times,
      hemmed in by enemy malice,
   Shoved around by bullies,
      demeaned by the arrogant rich?

^7-9    Really! There's no such thing as self-rescue,
      pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
   The cost of rescue is beyond our means,
      and even then it doesn't guarantee
   Life forever, or insurance
      against the Black Hole.

^10-11    Anyone can see that the brightest and best die,
      wiped out right along with fools and dunces.
   They leave all their prowess behind,
      move into their new home, The Coffin,
   The cemetery their permanent address.
      And to think they named counties after themselves!

¹²    We aren't immortal. We don't last long.
      Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.

^13-15    This is what happens to those who live for the moment,
      who only look out for themselves:
   Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;
      they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
   They waste away to nothing—
      nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
   But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,
      he reaches down and grabs me.

^16-19    So don't be impressed with those who get rich
      and pile up fame and fortune.
   They can't take it with them;
      fame and fortune all get left behind.
   Just when they think they've arrived
      and folks praise them because they've made good,
   They enter the family burial plot
      where they'll never see sunshine again.

²⁰    We aren't immortal. We don't last long.
      Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.