1A psalm of the sons of Korah Listen, everyone, listen— earth-dwellers, don't miss this.
2All you haves and have-nots, All together now: listen.
3I set plainspoken wisdom before you, my heart-seasoned understandings of life.
4I fine-tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise, I solve life's riddle with the help of a harp.
5So why should I fear in bad times, hemmed in by enemy malice,
6Shoved around by bullies, demeaned by the arrogant rich?
7Really! There's no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
8The cost of rescue is beyond our means, and even then it doesn't guarantee
9Life forever, or insurance against the Black Hole.
10Anyone can see that the brightest and best die, wiped out right along with fools and dunces.
11They leave all their prowess behind, move into their new home, The Coffin, The cemetery their permanent address. And to think they named counties after themselves!
12We aren't immortal. We don't last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
13This is what happens to those who live for the moment, who only look out for themselves:
14Death herds them like sheep straight to hell; they disappear down the gullet of the grave; They waste away to nothing— nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
15But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death, he reaches down and grabs me.
16So don't be impressed with those who get rich and pile up fame and fortune.
17They can't take it with them; fame and fortune all get left behind.
18Just when they think they've arrived and folks praise them because they've made good,
19They enter the family burial plot where they'll never see sunshine again.
20We aren't immortal. We don't last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.