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14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the (A)fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that the (B)fate of one becomes the fate of all of them.

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14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
    while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
    that the same fate overtakes them both.(A)

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16 For there is (A)no remembrance of the wise man along with the fool forever, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And (B)how the wise man dies with the fool!

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16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(A)
    the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(B)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(C)

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19 (A)For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same fate for each of them. As one dies so dies the other, and they all have the same breath. So there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is [a]vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the (B)dust, and all return to the dust.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or futility

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. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or spirit

Even if the other man lives one thousand years twice and does not see good things—(A)do not all go to the same place?”

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even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?(A)

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(A)It is the same for all. There is (B)one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who [a]is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is (C)one fate for all. Furthermore, (D)the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and (E)madness is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Lit fears an oath

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.(A)

This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.(B) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,(C) and afterward they join the dead.(D)

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Footnotes

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