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Psalm 49:12

But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish.

10For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
11Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
12But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish.
13This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.
14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
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Notice

Riches meet their limit at death, and the comparison with animals can unsettle the hope that owning more means lasting longer.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do you make of the comparison between a wealthy person and animals that perish?

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Where, if anywhere, do you expect money to offer more security than it can?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

9 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Ecclesiastes 3:18–21I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.Both compare human beings with animals; Ecclesiastes describes God testing people so they can see this likeness.
Psalm 82:7Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.”Death reaches people despite their standing: Psalm 49 names riches, while Psalm 82 speaks of rulers falling.
Ecclesiastes 3:19For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one …Both name the death shared by humans and animals, exposing a limit that human wealth cannot remove.
Psalm 49:20A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.Both compare a person with riches to animals that perish; verse 20 adds the absence of understanding.
Psalm 39:5Behold, you have made my days hand widths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.” Selah.Both speak of human life failing to endure, using animals that perish and a breath to describe its limits.
Ecclesiastes 9:12For man also doesn’t know his time. As the fish that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men …Both compare human vulnerability with that of animals; Ecclesiastes adds the danger of being caught without warning.
James 1:10–11and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.Both say that the rich will pass away, using perishing animals and a fading flower to expose wealth’s limits.
Psalm 7:5let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.Both speak of human life brought low, though Psalm 7 frames this as a plea involving an enemy.
1 Peter 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;Both compare human life to something that perishes; Peter also names human glory as a flower that falls.
Where this verse fits

Death and what comes after. envy and comparison. aging.

What the Bible says about death →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Write one thing money cannot keep forever in your notebook

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Encouragement

You do not have to make wealth carry the weight of lasting life. No fortune can make its owner endure forever.

Now put it in your words.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).