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Ecclesiastes 9:1-4
New American Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 9:1-4
New American Standard Bible
People Are in the Hand of God
9 For I have taken all this to my heart, even to [a]examine [b]it all, that righteous people, wise people, and their deeds are (A)in the hand of God. (B)People do not know whether it will be (C)love or hatred; anything [c]awaits them.
2 (D)It is the same for all. There is (E)one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and the unclean; for the person who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good person is, so is the sinner; the one who swears an oath is just as the one who [d]is afraid to swear an oath. 3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun, that there is (F)one fate for everyone. Furthermore, (G)the hearts of the sons of mankind are full of evil, and (H)insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterward they go to the dead. 4 For whoever is joined to all the living, there is hope; for better a live dog, than a dead lion.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 9:1 Or explain
- Ecclesiastes 9:1 Lit all this
- Ecclesiastes 9:1 Lit is before them
- Ecclesiastes 9:2 Lit fears an oath
Ecclesiastes 9:1-4
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 9:1-4
New International Version
A Common Destiny for All
9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.(A) 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.(B)
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.(C) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,(D) and afterward they join the dead.(E) 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope[b]—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.
- Ecclesiastes 9:4 Or What then is to be chosen? With all who live, there is hope
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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