Psalms · 20 verses
Psalms 49
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Death takes the shepherd’s crook in this psalm, and in the morning the upright somehow take charge of the flock.
The riddle on the harpvv. 1–15
The singers summon everyone at once—low and high, rich and poor—then set wisdom to music and call it a riddle. The trouble is the rich man who trusts his wealth: neither brother nor fortune can purchase a life without decay. Wise and foolish alike die, and their carefully named lands do not prevent the grave from becoming home. Then the poem produces its wonderfully grim pastoral scene: the doomed are sheep, Death is their shepherd, and the upright rule them in the morning. The psalm does not explain the morning, which is perhaps why the harp has been needed. Against all this stands the singer's confidence that God will redeem his life from Sheol.
Nothing follows the rich man downvv. 16–20
The closing movement returns to the prosperous house and refuses to be impressed by it. Its splendor increases; its owner blesses himself in his lifetime; other men praise him for prospering. Then he dies, carries nothing away, joins the generation of his fathers, and never sees the light of day. The final sentence folds the whole argument into one blunt comparison: riches without understanding leave a man no better placed than the beasts that perish.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Ps 49:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,
Ps 49:2both low and high, rich and poor alike.
Ps 49:3My mouth will impart wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.
Ps 49:4I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:
Ps 49:5Why should I fear in times of trouble, when wicked usurpers surround me?
Ps 49:6They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
Ps 49:7No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
Ps 49:8For the redemption of his soul is costly, and never can payment suffice,
Ps 49:9that he should live on forever and not see decay.
Ps 49:10For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.
Ps 49:11Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.
Ps 49:12But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.
Ps 49:13This is the fate of the foolish and their followers who endorse their sayings. Selah
Ps 49:14Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
Ps 49:15But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah
Ps 49:16Do not be afraid when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases.
Ps 49:17For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.
Ps 49:18Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper—
Ps 49:19he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day.
Ps 49:20A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 223 passages were voted onto 20 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 7Matthew 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- 15Psalms 73:24You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.
- 7Matthew 20:28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- 15Psalms 56:13For You have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
- 3Psalms 19:14May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
- 3Matthew 12:35The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
- 71 Timothy 2:6who gave Himself as a ransom for all—the testimony that was given at just the right time.
- 71 Peter 1:18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- 9Psalms 89:48What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
- 12Ecclesiastes 3:18–21I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”
- 15Psalms 86:13For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.
- 4Psalms 78:2I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,
- 11Genesis 4:17And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.
- 14Malachi 4:3Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- 16Psalms 37:7Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.
- 171 Timothy 6:7For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.
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