Psalm 49-51
American Standard Version
The folly of trusting in riches.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
49 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 [a]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 [b]corruption.
10 For [c]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 [d]their way is [e]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 [f]beauty shall be for Sheol to consume,
That there be no habitation for it.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the [g]power of Sheol;
For he will receive me. Selah
16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich,
When the [h]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 [i]He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
[j]They shall never see the light.
20 Man that is in honor, and understandeth not,
Is like the beasts that perish.
God the judge of the righteous and the wicked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,
And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined forth.
3 Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence:
A fire devoureth before him,
And it is very tempestuous round about him.
4 He calleth to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 Gather my saints together unto me,
Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6 And the heavens [k]shall declare his righteousness;
For God is judge himself. Selah
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, and I will testify [l]unto thee:
I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;
[m]And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house,
Nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
And the cattle [n]upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains;
And the wild beasts of the field are [o]mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;
For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;
And pay thy vows unto the Most High;
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble:
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
16 But unto the wicked God saith,
What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,
And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,
17 Seeing that thou hatest [p]instruction,
And castest my words behind thee?
18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him,
And [q]hast been partaker with adulterers.
19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
And thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;
Thou [r]slanderest thine own mother’s son.
21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
22 Now consider this, ye that forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
23 Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me;
And [s]to him that ordereth his way aright
Will I show the salvation of God.
A contrite sinner’s prayer for pardon.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.
51 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:
According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions;
And my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
And done that which is evil in thy sight;
That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest,
And be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity;
And in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts;
And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness,
That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins,
And blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create [t]in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a [u]right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence;
And take not thy holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;
And sinners shall [v]be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation;
And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou my lips;
And my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
16 For thou delightest not in sacrifice; [w]else would I give it:
Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion:
Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then wilt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
In burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering:
Then will they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
Footnotes
- Psalm 49:5 Or, the iniquity of them that would supplant me compasseth me about, Even of them that trust . . . riches?
- Psalm 49:9 Or, the pit
- Psalm 49:10 Or, he seeth that wise men etc.
- Psalm 49:13 Or, is the way of them that are foolish
- Psalm 49:13 Or, their confidence: and after etc.
- Psalm 49:14 Or, form
- Psalm 49:15 Hebrew hand.
- Psalm 49:16 Or, wealth
- Psalm 49:19 Hebrew Thou shalt go, or, It shall go.
- Psalm 49:19 Or, Who never more see
- Psalm 50:6 Or, declare
- Psalm 50:7 Or, against
- Psalm 50:8 Or, Nor for thy burnt-offerings, which are etc.
- Psalm 50:10 Or, upon the mountains where thousands are
- Psalm 50:11 Or, in my mind. Hebrew with me.
- Psalm 50:17 Or, correction
- Psalm 50:18 Hebrew thy portion was with adulterers.
- Psalm 50:20 Or, givest a thrust against
- Psalm 50:23 Or, prepareth a way that I may show him
- Psalm 51:10 Or, for me
- Psalm 51:10 Or, stedfast
- Psalm 51:13 Or, return
- Psalm 51:16 Or, that I should give it
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