Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 49
The Fool Trusts in Riches
Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
Introduction
1 Hear this, all you peoples.
Pay attention, all you inhabitants of this world,
2 all you children of Adam, all mankind,
rich and poor alike.
3 My mouth will speak wisdom.
The meditation of my heart will give understanding.
4 I will listen carefully to wise teaching.
With a lyre I will explain deep truths.
The Limitations of Riches
5 Why should I fear days of trouble,
days when the wickedness of my pursuers surrounds me?[a]
6 They trust in their wealth.
They place their confidence in the abundance of their riches.
7 But no one can by any means redeem himself.[b]
He cannot give God a ransom for himself—
8 (Yes, the ransom for their souls is costly.
Any payment would fall short.)[c]
9 —so that he could live on forever and not see the pit.
10 Yes, we can see that wise men die.
The fool and the senseless alike perish,
and they leave their wealth to others.
11 They think their houses will remain forever,
their dwellings for generation after generation[d]
because they named lands after themselves.
12 But man, though he has riches, does not even spend a night here.
He is like the animals that perish.
The Heading
1 The words of Ecclesiastes,[a] David’s son, king in Jerusalem.
The Problem
2 “Nothing but vapor,”[b] Ecclesiastes said. “Totally vapor. Everything is just vapor that vanishes.”
3 What does anyone gain by all his hard work, at which he works hard under the sun? 4 A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth keeps standing forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets. It hurries back, panting and out of breath, to its starting point, where it rises again. 6 The wind goes round and round. Blowing south, then blowing north, the wind keeps going around in circles. 7 All streams keep flowing to the sea, but the sea is never full. The streams keep coming back to the same place, and then they flow out again.
8 Everything is tedious and tiresome, more than one can tell. No eye ever sees enough, and no ear ever gets its fill of hearing.
9 Whatever has been is what will be again, and whatever has already been done is what will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a single thing about which one can say, “Look, this is new”? It was already here ages ago, long before us. 11 No one remembers the people who[c] came before us, and as for those who are coming—after they are gone, no one will remember them either.
The Rich Young Ruler
17 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, one man ran up to him and knelt in front of him. He asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. 19 You know the commandments. ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not defraud. Honor your father and mother.’”[a]
20 The man replied, “Teacher, I have kept all these since I was a child.”
21 Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When he heard this, he looked sad and went away grieving, because he had great wealth.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.