² is vanity,^[a] since the same fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,^[b] to the clean and the unclean, to those who sacrifice and those who do not sacrifice. As are the good, so are the sinners; those who swear are like those who shun an oath.^(A)

¹⁸ Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.^(A)

Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.^{(A) 15} Then I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also; why then have I been so very wise?” And I said to myself that this also is vanity.^{(B) 16} For there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How can the wise die just like fools?

⁵ Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.^(A)

¹⁵ Now we count the arrogant happy; evildoers not only prosper, but when they put God to the test they escape.”^(A)

³ Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land, for everyone who has stolen, as is forbidden on one side, has gone unpunished, and everyone who has sworn falsely,^[a] as is forbidden on the other side, has gone unpunished.^{(A) 4} I have sent it out, says the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name, and it shall abide in that house and consume it, both timber and stones.”^(B)

¹⁸ Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant, because he gave his hand and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.^{(A) 19} Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, I will surely return upon his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke.

¹² Though sinners do evil a hundred times and prolong their lives, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they stand in fear before him,^{(A) 13} but it will not be well with the wicked, neither will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.^(B)

¹⁴ There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people who are treated according to the conduct of the wicked and wicked people who are treated according to the conduct of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.^(C)