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Take Life as It Comes

All this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hate one does not know. Everything that confronts them is vanity,[a] since the same fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,[b] to the clean and the unclean, to those who sacrifice and those who do not sacrifice. As are the good, so are the sinners; those who swear are like those who shun an oath.(A) This is an evil in all that happens under the sun, that the same fate comes to everyone. Moreover, the hearts of humans are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 9.2 Syr Compare Gk: Heb Everything that confronts them is everything
  2. 9.2 Gk Syr Vg: Heb lacks and the evil

Nevertheless, as I pondered all this in my heart, I wanted to make all this clear—that the righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hand. Will there be love or hate? No one knows anything that is ahead of him. Everything turns out the same for everyone. One destination waits for the righteous and the wicked, and the good,[a] the ceremonially clean and the unclean, the one who brings sacrifices and the one who does not. As it will be for the good, so it will be for the sinner. As it will be for the one who swears an oath, so it will be for the one who is afraid to take an oath.

This is an evil that infects everything done under the sun. Yes, they all share one fate. What’s more, people’s hearts are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts as long as they live. After that they go to the dead.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:2 The Greek text adds the words and the bad.