Psalms 62:9

7 My salvation and my honor rest on God, my strong rock; my refuge is in God.

8 Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah

Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

10 Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

11 God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God,

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
KJV
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
WEB
Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
ASV
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: In the balances they will go up; They are together lighter than vanity.
DARBY
Men of low degree are only vanity; men of high degree, a lie: laid in the balance, they go up together [lighter] than vanity.
BLB
Only a vapor [are] the sons of a man, a lie the sons of a man—in the scales they go up as a vapor together.
ÅB
Bare tomhet er menneskenes barn, bare løgn er mannens sønner; i vektskålen stiger de til værs, de er tomhet alle sammen.
OTB
Mennesker av lav rang er bare et pust, og de av høy rang er en illusjon;
På vektskålen stiger de opp.
Sammen er de lettere enn luft.
B1930
Bare tomhet er menneskenes barn, bare løgn er mannens sønner; i vektskålen stiger de til værs, de er tomhet alle sammen.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Psalms 39:5

    You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 40:17

    All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 40:15

    Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 118:9

    It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 39:11

    You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah

    Read in context
  • 1 Samuel 23:19–20

    Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?

    Read in context
  • 1 Samuel 18:21–26

    “I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”

    Read in context
  • Romans 3:4

    Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”

    Read in context