O hear ye this, | all ye people;
* ponder it with your ears, all ye that | dwell in the world;
2 High and low, | rich and poor,
* one | with an- | -other.
3 My mouth shall | speak of wisdom,
* and my heart shall | muse of understanding.
4 I will incline mine ear | to the parable,
* and show my dark | speech upon the harp.
5 Wherefore should I fear in the | days of evil,
* when wickedness at my heels compasseth | me round about?
6 There be some that put their trust | in their goods,
* and boast themselves in the | multi•tude of their riches.
7 But no man may de- | -liver his brother,
* nor give a ransom | unto God for him,
8 (For it cost more to re- | -deem their souls,
* so that he must let | that alone for ever;)
9 That he shall | live alway,
* and | not see the grave.
10 For he seeth that wise men also die and | perish• together,
* as well as the ignorant and foolish, and | leave their •riches• for other.
11 And yet they think that their houses shall continue for ever, and that their dwelling-places shall endure from one generation | to another;
* and call the lands | after• their own names.
12 Nevertheless, man being in honour a- | -bideth not,
* seeing he may be compared | unto• the beasts that perish;
13 This their way is | very foolishness;
* yet their pos- | -teri•ty praise their saying.
14 They lie in the grave like sheep; death is their shepherd; and the righteous shall have dominion over them | in the morning:
* their beauty shall consume in the sepulchre, and | have no abiding.
15 But God hath delivered my soul from the power | of the grave;
* for | he shall receive me.
16 Be not thou afraid, though one be | made rich,
* or if the glory of his | house be increased;
17 For he shall carry nothing away with him | when he dieth,
* neither shall his | pomp follow him.
18 For while he lived, he counted himself an | happy man;
* and so long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will | speak good of thee.
19 He shall follow the generation | of his fathers,
* and shall | never see light.
20 Man that is in honour but hath no | understanding
* is compared | unto• the beasts that perish.
Glory be to the Father, and | to the Son,
* and | to the Holy Ghost,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and | ever shall be,
* world without | end. Amen.