The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Listen, everyone, listen - earth-dwellers, don't miss this.
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Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 All you haves and have-nots, All together now: listen.
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both low and high, rich and poor together!
3 I set plainspoken wisdom before you, my heart-seasoned understandings of life.
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My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I fine-tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise, I solve life's riddle with the help of a harp.
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I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5 So why should I fear in bad times, hemmed in by enemy malice,
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Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 Shoved around by bullies, demeaned by the arrogant rich?
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those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Really! There's no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
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Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
8 The cost of rescue is beyond our means, and even then it doesn't guarantee
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for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,
9 Life forever, or insurance against the Black Hole.
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that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
10 Anyone can see that the brightest and best die, wiped out right along with fools and dunces.
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For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
11 They 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!
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Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names.
12 We aren't immortal. We don't last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
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Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is what happens to those who live for the moment, who only look out for themselves:
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This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
14 Death 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.
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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 me? God snatches me from the clutch of death, he reaches down and grabs me.
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But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
16 So don't be impressed with those who get rich and pile up fame and fortune.
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Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases.
17 They can't take it with them; fame and fortune all get left behind.
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For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.
18 Just when they think they've arrived and folks praise them because they've made good,
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For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed --and though you get praise when you do well for yourself--
19 They enter the family burial plot where they'll never see sunshine again.
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his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light.
20 We aren't immortal. We don't last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
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Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.