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10 Those who are wise must finally die,
    just like the foolish and senseless,
    leaving all their wealth behind.

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10 For all can see that the wise die,(A)
    that the foolish and the senseless(B) also perish,
    leaving their wealth(C) to others.(D)

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20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

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20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool!(A) This very night your life will be demanded from you.(B) Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’(C)

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We are merely moving shadows,
    and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth,
    not knowing who will spend it.

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“Surely everyone goes around(A) like a mere phantom;(B)
    in vain they rush about,(C) heaping up wealth(D)
    without knowing whose it will finally be.(E)

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27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,

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27 Just as people are destined to die once,(A) and after that to face judgment,(B)

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People who worship idols are stupid and foolish.
    The things they worship are made of wood!

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They are all senseless(A) and foolish;(B)
    they are taught by worthless wooden idols.(C)

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13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. 14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. 15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.

16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.

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13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:(A)

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
14     or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
    there is nothing left for them to inherit.
15 Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
    and as everyone comes, so they depart.(B)
They take nothing from their toil(C)
    that they can carry in their hands.(D)

16 This too is a grievous evil:

As everyone comes, so they depart,
    and what do they gain,
    since they toil for the wind?(E)

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I am too stupid to be human,
    and I lack common sense.

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Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
    I do not have human understanding.

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Think again, you fools!
    When will you finally catch on?

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Take notice, you senseless ones(A) among the people;
    you fools, when will you become wise?

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22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
    I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.

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22 I was senseless(A) and ignorant;
    I was a brute beast(B) before you.

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Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

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But godliness with contentment(A) is great gain.(B) For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.(C) But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.(D) Those who want to get rich(E) fall into temptation and a trap(F) and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money(G) is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith(H) and pierced themselves with many griefs.(I)

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Adam and Christ Contrasted

12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.

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Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,(A) and death through sin,(B) and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned(C)

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.(D) 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam,(E) who is a pattern of the one to come.(F)

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Jeremiah’s Trust in the Lord

11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid,
    so are those who get their wealth by unjust means.
At midlife they will lose their riches;
    in the end, they will become poor old fools.

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11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
    are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
    and in the end they will prove to be fools.(A)

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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.