Judaism
Psalms 49
Text
For the Leader; a Psalm for the sons of Korah.
Hear this, all ye peoples; Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world,
Both low and high, Rich and poor together.
My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
I will incline mine ear to a parable; I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my supplanters compasseth me about,
Of them that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches?
No man can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him—
For too costly is the redemption of their soul, and must be let alone for ever—
That he should still live always, that he should not see the pit.
For he seeth that wise men die, The fool and the brutish together perish, And leave their wealth to others.
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.
But man abideth not in honour; He is like the beasts that perish.
This is the way of them that are foolish, and of those who after them approve their sayings. Selah
Like sheep they are appointed for the nether-world; death shall be their shepherd; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their form shall be for the nether-world to wear away, That there be no habitation for it.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the nether-world; For He shall receive me. Selah
Be not thou afraid when one waxeth rich, When the wealth of his house is increased;
For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; His wealth shall not descend after him.
Though while he lived he blessed his soul: 'Men will praise thee, when thou shalt do well to thyself';
It shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see the light. .
Man that is in honour understandeth not; He is like the beasts that perish.
Text: The Holy Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society (1917), public domain, via Sefaria.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Divine Compassion & Mercy
Quran 1:1
“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.”
Luke 6:36
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
Snp 1.8 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Even as a mother would protect with her life her child, her only child, so too for all creatures unfold a boundless heart.”
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 1
“ik oankaar sat naam: one Creator, whose Name is Truth, beyond fear and enmity.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277 (trans. F. Max Müller)
“‘All created things perish,’ he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.”
Tao Te Ching 76 (trans. James Legge)
“Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“Nay, but as when one layeth His worn-out robes away, And taking new ones, sayeth, "These will I wear to-day!" So putteth by the spirit Lightly its garb of flesh, And passeth to inherit A residence afresh.”
The Path to Wisdom
Dhammapada 20:282 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“From meditation springs wisdom, without meditation, wisdom ends.”
Analects 2:11 (trans. James Legge)
“If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.”
Tao Te Ching 33 (trans. James Legge)
“He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent.”
Quran 39:9
“Are those who know equal with those who know not?”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
Dhammapada 2 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with pure intent you speak or act, happiness follows you like a shadow that never leaves.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“The Doors of Hell Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass, The door of Lust, the door of Wrath, the door Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three!”