¹⁹ Surely the fate of human beings^(A) is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath^[a]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.

Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness

4 Again I looked and saw all the oppression^(A) that was taking place under the sun:

Riches Are Meaningless

⁸ If you see the poor oppressed^(A) in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still.

¹⁵ In this meaningless life^(A) of mine I have seen both of these:

¹⁴ There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.^(A) This too, I say, is meaningless.^(B)

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.

¹¹ I have seen something else under the sun: