In finem, filiis Core. Psalmus.

Unto the end, a psalm for the sons of Core.

(To the choir-master. Of the sons of Core. A psalm.)

Audite hæc, omnes gentes; auribus percipite, omnes qui habitatis orbem:

Hear these things, all ye nations: give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world.

Listen, you nations far and wide; let all the world give hearing,

quique terrigenæ et filii hominum, simul in unum dives et pauper.

All you that are earthborn, and you sons of men: both rich and poor together.

poor clods of earth, and men nobly born, for rich and poor the same lesson.

Os meum loquetur sapientiam, et meditatio cordis mei prudentiam.

My mouth shall speak wisdom: and the meditation of my heart understanding.

Here are wise words, thoughts of a discerning heart;

Inclinabo in parabolam aurem meam; aperiam in psalterio propositionem meam.

I will incline my ear to a parable; I will open my proposition on the psaltery.

mine to overhear mysteries, and reveal, with the harp’s music, things of deep import.

Cur timebo in die mala? iniquitas calcanei mei circumdabit me.

Why shall I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me.

What need have I to be afraid in troubled times, when malice dogs my heels and overtakes me,

Qui confidunt in virtute sua, et in multitudine divitiarum suarum, gloriantur.

They that trust in their own strength, and glory in the multitude of their riches,

malice of foes who trust in their own strength, and boast of their great possessions?

Frater non redimit, redimet homo: non dabit Deo placationem suam,

No brother can redeem, nor shall man redeem: he shall not give to God his ransom,

No man can deliver himself from his human lot, paying a ransom-price to God;

et pretium redemptionis animæ suæ. Et laborabit in æternum;

Nor the price of the redemption of his soul: and shall labour for ever,

too great is the cost of a man’s soul; never will the means be his

et vivet adhuc in finem.

and shall still live unto the end.

to prolong his days eternally and escape death.

Non videbit interitum, cum viderit sapientes morientes: simul insipiens et stultus peribunt. Et relinquent alienis divitias suas,

He shall not see destruction, when he shall see the wise dying: the senseless and the fool shall perish together: And they shall leave their riches to strangers:

True it is, wise men die; but reckless fools perish no less; their riches will go to others,

et sepulchra eorum domus illorum in æternum; tabernacula eorum in progenie et progenie: vocaverunt nomina sua in terris suis.

and their sepulchres shall be their houses for ever. Their dwelling places to all generations: they have called their lands by their names.

and the grave will be their everlasting home. Age after age, they will live on there, under the fields they once called their own.

Et homo, cum in honore esset, non intellexit. Comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est illis.

And man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them.

Short is man’s enjoyment of earthly goods; match him with the brute beasts, and he is no better than they.

Hæc via illorum scandalum ipsis; et postea in ore suo complacebunt.

This way of theirs is a stumbling-block to them: and afterwards they shall delight in their mouth.

Fatal path, that ensnares the reckless! Pitiful end of the men that love life!

Sicut oves in inferno positi sunt: mors depascet eos. Et dominabuntur eorum justi in matutino; et auxilium eorum veterascet in inferno a gloria eorum.

They are laid in hell like sheep: death shall feed upon them. And the just shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their help shall decay in hell from their glory.

There they lie in the world beneath, huddled like sheep, with death for their shepherd, the just for their masters; soon, soon their image fades, the grave for its tenement.

Verumtamen Deus redimet animam meam de manu inferi, cum acceperit me.

But God will redeem my soul from the hand of hell, when he shall receive me.

But my life God will rescue from the power of that lower darkness, a life that finds acceptance with him.

Ne timueris cum dives factus fuerit homo, et cum multiplicata fuerit gloria domus ejus:

Be not thou afraid, when a man shall be made rich, and when the glory of his house shall be increased.

Do not be disturbed, then, when a man grows rich, and there is no end to his household’s magnificence;

quoniam, cum interierit, non sumet omnia, neque descendet cum eo gloria ejus.

For when he shall die he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him.

he cannot take all that with him when he dies, magnificence will not follow him to the grave.

Quia anima ejus in vita ipsius benedicetur; confitebitur tibi cum benefeceris ei.

For in his lifetime his soul will be blessed: and he will praise thee when thou shalt do well to him.

While life lasts, he calls himself happy: None but will envy my success;

Introibit usque in progenies patrum suorum; et usque in æternum non videbit lumen.

He shall go in to the generations of his fathers: and he shall never see light.

but soon he will be made one with the line of his fathers, never again to see the light.

Homo, cum in honore esset, non intellexit. Comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est illis.

Man when he was in honour did not understand: he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them.

Short is man’s careless enjoyment of earthly goods; match him with the brute beasts, and he is no better than they.