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.