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Psalm 49:8

For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,

6Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches—
7none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.
8For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,
9that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.
10For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
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← Psalm 49:7Psalm 49:9 →
Notice

The words “no payment is ever enough” expose the limit of wealth where the wish to keep someone alive is strongest.

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

How does “no payment is ever enough” challenge the security you attach to money?

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What comes to mind when you consider wealth’s inability to keep someone you love alive forever?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

4 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
Matthew 16:26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?Both passages confront the limits of wealth by asking what payment could possibly be exchanged for a human life.
Job 36:18–19Don’t let riches entice you to wrath, neither let the great size of a bribe turn you aside.Both passages warn about riches, though the psalm names their inability to ransom life and Job warns against their enticement.
1 Samuel 26:21Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David; for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes today. Behold, I have played …Both texts speak of life's value: the psalm describes an unaffordable ransom, while Saul acknowledges that David treated his life as precious.
2 Kings 1:14Behold, fire came down from the sky and consumed the last two captains of fifty with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight.”Both passages concern preserving life, though the psalm considers an impossible payment and the captain pleads for his life to be spared.
Where this verse fits

Death and what comes after. job loss or money fear. grief.

What the Bible says about death →What the Bible says about money →What the Bible says about grief →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 49:6–10 and underline what wealth cannot buy

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Encouragement

The limit named here reaches even the richest person. No fortune can give God a ransom that keeps a loved one alive forever.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 49:8. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 49 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).