Death Comes to All

9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, ^(A)how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are ^(B)in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.

^27 (A)My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ^28 (B)I give them eternal life, and ^(C)they will never perish, and ^(D)no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, ^(E)who has given them to me,^{[a] (F)}is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of ^(G)the Father's hand. ^30 (H)I and the Father are one.”

⁵ who by God's power are being guarded ^(A)through faith for a salvation ^(B)ready to be revealed in the last time.

Man Cannot Know God's Ways

¹⁴ There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people ^(A)to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people ^(B)to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

^12 (A)which is why I suffer as I do. But ^(B)I am not ashamed, for ^(C)I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until ^(D)that day ^(E)what has been entrusted to me.^[a]

¹⁵ And now we call ^(A)the arrogant blessed. ^(B)Evildoers not only prosper but ^(C)they put God to the test and they escape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord ^(D)spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and ^(E)a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ¹⁷ “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, ^(F)in the day when I make up ^(G)my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸ Then once more you shall ^(H)see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.