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19 For the fate of humans[a] and the fate of animals are the same:
As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath.
There is no advantage for humans over animals,
for both are fleeting.
20 Both go to the same place,
both come from the dust,
and to dust both return.
21 Who really knows if the human spirit[b] ascends upward,
and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?”
22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people[c] to enjoy their work,[d]
because that is their[e] reward;
for who can show them what the future holds?[f]

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 tn Heb “of the sons of man.”
  2. Ecclesiastes 3:21 tn Heb “the spirit of the sons of man.”
  3. Ecclesiastes 3:22 tn Heb “man.”
  4. Ecclesiastes 3:22 tn Heb “his works.”
  5. Ecclesiastes 3:22 tn Heb “his.”
  6. Ecclesiastes 3:22 tn Heb “what will be after him” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV) or “afterward” (cf. NJPS).