That he should continue to live eternally, And not see the Pit.
Parallel translations
- WEB that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.
- KJV That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
- BSB that he should live on forever and not see decay.
- NASB That he might live on eternally, That he might not undergo decay.
- NLT to live forever and never see the grave.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No payment can secure endless life or escape from the decay of the grave. Wealth cannot win immortality.
Overview
This completes the thought of the previous verses: no ransom can purchase eternal life or prevent bodily corruption. The dream of cheating death through riches is exposed as impossible. Only resurrection power, secured by Christ who saw no corruption, overcomes the grave's claim on the body.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 89:48What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.
- Ps 16:10For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
- Eccl 8:8There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice it.
- Prov 10:2Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.
- Prov 11:4Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
- John 8:51–52Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
- Acts 2:27because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
- Luke 16:22–23The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
- Zech 1:5Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
- Ps 22:29All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
- Acts 2:31he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.
- Acts 13:35–37Therefore he says also in another psalm, ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.’
- Acts 13:33that God has fulfilled the same to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your father.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 49:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.