Psalm 49
Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?
1 Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2
both low and high,
rich and poor together!
3
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5
Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6
those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7
Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8
for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9
that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
10
For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11
Their graves are their homes forever,[a]
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
12
Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
13
This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.[b] Selah
14
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah
16
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17
For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18
For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19
his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20
Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Psalm 50
God Himself Is Judge
1The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3
Our God comes; he does not keep silence;[a]
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4
He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5
“Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6
The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! Selah
7
“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9
I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
13
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b]
and perform your vows to the Most High,
15
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
16
But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17
For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
18
If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19
“You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20
You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother's son.
21
These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I[c] was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
22
“Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”
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