Ecclesiastes 3:17-22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
17 (A)I said in my heart, both the just and the wicked God will judge, since a time is set for every affair and for every work.[a] 18 I said in my heart: As for human beings, it is God’s way of testing them and of showing that they are in themselves like beasts. 19 For the lot of mortals and the lot of beasts is the same lot: The one dies as well as the other. Both have the same life breath. Human beings have no advantage over beasts, but all is vanity. 20 (B)Both go to the same place; both were made from the dust, and to the dust they both return. 21 Who knows[b] if the life breath of mortals goes upward and the life breath of beasts goes earthward? 22 (C)And I saw that there is nothing better for mortals than to rejoice in their work; for this is their lot. Who will let them see what is to come after them?(D)
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- 3:17 A time is set…work: another possible reading would see this verse referring to a judgment in or after death: “a time for every affair and for every work there” (that is, in death or in Sheol).
- 3:21 Who knows: the author presumes a negative answer: “No one knows.” In place of speculation on impossible questions, the author counsels enjoyment of what is possible (cf. v. 22; but see also 2:10–11).
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