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.