15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.

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

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
    and the wicked living long in their wickedness.(B)

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12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

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12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better(A) with those who fear God,(B) who are reverent before him.(C) 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God,(D) it will not go well with them, and their days(E) will not lengthen like a shadow.

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.(F) This too, I say, is meaningless.(G)

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34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

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34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify;(A) others you will flog in your synagogues(B) and pursue from town to town.(C) 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel(D) to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,(E) whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.(F)

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12 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

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12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days(A) they pass through like a shadow?(B) Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

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For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.

They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

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For I envied(A) the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(B)

They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.[a]
They are free(C) from common human burdens;
    they are not plagued by human ills.
Therefore pride(D) is their necklace;(E)
    they clothe themselves with violence.(F)
From their callous hearts(G) comes iniquity[b];
    their evil imaginations have no limits.
They scoff, and speak with malice;(H)
    with arrogance(I) they threaten oppression.(J)
Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
    and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
    and drink up waters in abundance.[c]
11 They say, “How would God know?
    Does the Most High know anything?”

12 This is what the wicked are like—
    always free of care,(K) they go on amassing wealth.(L)

13 Surely in vain(M) I have kept my heart pure
    and have washed my hands in innocence.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 73:4 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text struggles at their death; / their bodies are healthy
  2. Psalm 73:7 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew Their eyes bulge with fat
  3. Psalm 73:10 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

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A Common Destiny for All

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) 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)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.

52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

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52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?(A) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him(B)

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12 Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

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Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,(A) Lord,
    when I bring a case(B) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:(C)
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(D)
    Why do all the faithless live at ease?
You have planted(E) them, and they have taken root;
    they grow and bear fruit.(F)
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.(G)

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20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

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20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant(A) who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;(B)
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

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Enjoy life with your wife,(A) whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot(B) in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.

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16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?

17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

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16 This too is a grievous evil:

As everyone comes, so they depart,
    and what do they gain,
    since they toil for the wind?(A)
17 All their days they eat in darkness,
    with great frustration, affliction and anger.

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16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

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16 And I saw something else under the sun:

In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
    in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

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23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

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23 All their days their work is grief and pain;(A) even at night their minds do not rest.(B) This too is meaningless.

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