Who is wise

Wise men die:

Like the fool they go down together.

Their inward thought is:

My house shall stand forever!

Future generations will know my fame;

Their way is folly.

Even calling lands after their own name  

Laid in the grave:

Like the beast they perish.

But their prosperity approved their sayings;

In this the people relish.

Death shall feed on them:

The upright shall be saved.

God will redeem them from the power of the grave.

Though while they lived they blessed their soul;

At the end of the day, they shall carry nothing away.

Although men praised them, when they did well;

What for their soul, can they sell?

Man in honour,

That understands not,

Is like the beast that perish.

This is their lot.