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?