Ecclesiastes 9:2-4

New Living Translation

² The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad,^[a] ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.

³ It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. ⁴ There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”