The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 Listen, everyone, listen - earth-dwellers, don't miss this.
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Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye 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 of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of 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 mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
5 So why should I fear in bad times, hemmed in by enemy malice,
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Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
6 Shoved around by bullies, demeaned by the arrogant rich?
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They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
7 Really! There's no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
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None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
8 The cost of rescue is beyond our means, and even then it doesn't guarantee
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(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
9 Life forever, or insurance against the Black Hole.
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That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
10 Anyone can see that the brightest and best die, wiped out right along with fools and dunces.
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For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person 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 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 We aren't immortal. We don't last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
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Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: 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 their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. 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 laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
15 But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death, he reaches down and grabs me.
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But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall 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 thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
17 They can't take it with them; fame and fortune all get left behind.
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For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.
18 Just when they think they've arrived and folks praise them because they've made good,
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Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
19 They enter the family burial plot where they'll never see sunshine again.
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He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never 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 that is in honour, and understandeth not, 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 King James Version is in the public domain.