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Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
New International Version
18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.(A) 19 Surely the fate of human beings(B) 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.(C) 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward(D) and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work,(E) because that is their lot.(F) For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or spirit
Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
Lexham English Bible
Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
Lexham English Bible
18 I said to myself concerning humans,[a] “God sifts[b] them in order to show[c] them that they are like beasts.” 19 For the fate of humans[d] and the fate of the beast is the same.[e] The death of the one is like the death of the other, for both are mortal.[f] Man has no advantage over the beast, for both are fleeting. 20 Both go to one place—both came from dust and both return to dust. 21 For no one knows whether the spirit of a human ascends to heaven and whether the spirit of the beast descends to the ground!
22 So I concluded that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy the fruit of his labor, for this is his lot in life. For no one knows what will happen in the future.[g]
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- Ecclesiastes 3:18 Literally “the sons of the man”
- Ecclesiastes 3:18 Or “tests”
- Ecclesiastes 3:18 The MT reads active “to see,” but causative “to show” is reflected by LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate
- Ecclesiastes 3:19 Literally “the sons of the man”
- Ecclesiastes 3:19 Literally “is one”
- Ecclesiastes 3:19 Literally “and one breath is for all”
- Ecclesiastes 3:22 Literally “For who can bring him to see in what will be after him?”
Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
King James Version
Ecclesiastes 3:18-22
King James Version
18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
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Lexham English Bible (LEB)
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