The Fate of Fools

Paraphrased from the Descendants of Korah

- This is a message for all people of the world:

High and low, rich and poor, this is for you.

This comes from hard-earned wisdom and insight.

- There is no need to fear when times of trouble come,

When our enemies are surrounding us.

They trust in their oil riches and boast of their wealth.

Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death

By paying a ransom to our God.

- Redemption does not come so easily, for no one

can pay enough to live forever and never see the grave.

Those who are "wise" must finally die, just like the foolish,

leaving all their wealth behind. They may name their estates

after themselves, but they leave their wealth to others.

- They will not last long despite their riches -

they will die like the animals and the rest of us.

This is the fate of fools, though they will be

remembered as being "so wise". Like sheep, they will be led

to the grave, where death will be their shepherd.

- In the morning the godly will rule over them.

Their bodies will rot in the grave, far from their grand estates.

But as for me, God will redeem my life.

He will snatch me from the power of death.

- So don't be dismayed when the wicked grow rich,

and their homes become ever more splendid.

For when they die, they carry nothing with them.

Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.

In this life they consider themselves fortunate,

and the world will loudly applaud their success.

- But they will die like all others before them

and never see the light of day.

People who boast of their wealth don't understand:

they will die just like the animals.

(from the descendants of Korah)

Submitted 2008 April Lorier

APRIL LORIER - So. California. An award-winning poet, inspirational author and speaker. A survivor of both child abuse and adult domestic abuse, April inspires women to be all that God designed them to be! She first gained recognition as a children's rights crusader while successfully fighting for the passage of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), which was signed into law by Ronald Reagan. Her book God's Battered Child: Journey From Abuse to Leader is available on her blogs and in online stores.