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“Stop and think! Do the innocent die?
    When have the upright been destroyed?

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“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?(A)
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?(B)

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25 Once I was young, and now I am old.
    Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
    or their children begging for bread.

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25 I was young and now I am old,
    yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken(A)
    or their children begging(B) bread.

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So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.

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if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials(A) and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.(B)

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The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.”

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When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand,(A) they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.”(B)

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Death Comes to All

This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether God will show them favor. The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad,[a] ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:2 As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks or bad.

A Common Destiny for All

So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.(A) All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

As it is with the good,
    so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
    so with those who are afraid to take them.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:2 Septuagint (Aquila), Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew does not have and the bad.

The Limits of Human Wisdom

15 I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people.

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15 In this meaningless life(A) of mine I have seen both of these:

the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
    and the wicked living long in their wickedness.(B)

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He never takes his eyes off the innocent,
    but he sets them on thrones with kings
    and exalts them forever.

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He does not take his eyes off the righteous;(A)
    he enthrones them with kings(B)
    and exalts them forever.(C)

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22 Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God.
    That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When a plague[a] sweeps through,
    he laughs at the death of the innocent.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:23 Or disaster.

22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
    ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’(A)
23 When a scourge(B) brings sudden death,
    he mocks the despair of the innocent.(C)

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20 “But look, God will not reject a person of integrity,
    nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.

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20 “Surely God does not reject one who is blameless(A)
    or strengthen the hands of evildoers.(B)

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