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.