Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

New King James Version

Injustice Seems to Prevail

¹⁶Moreover ^(A)I saw under the sun:

In the place of ^[a]judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
^[b]Iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in my heart,

^(B)“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every ^[c]purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” ¹⁹^(C)For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to one place: ^(D)all are from the dust, and all return to dust. ²¹^(E)Who^[d] knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? ²²^(F)So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for ^(G)that is his ^[e]heritage. ^(H)For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

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Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 3:16 justice
Ecclesiastes 3:16 Wickedness
Ecclesiastes 3:17 desire
Ecclesiastes 3:21 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. Who knows whether the spirit . . . goes upward, and whether . . . goes downward to the earth?
Ecclesiastes 3:22 portion or lot

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

New International Version

¹⁶And I saw something else under the sun:

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

¹⁷I said to myself,

“God will bring into judgment^(A)
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”^(B)

¹⁸I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.^(C) ¹⁹Surely the fate of human beings^(D) 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. ²⁰All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.^(E) ²¹Who knows if the human spirit rises upward^(F) and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

²²So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work,^(G) because that is their lot.^(H) For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

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