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“Where are your ancestors now? They and the prophets are long dead.

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Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

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Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.

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when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home(A)
    and mourners(B) go about the streets.

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I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.

Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

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I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets(A) and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.(B)

Above all, you must understand that in the last days(C) scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.(D) They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?(E) Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”(F)

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For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

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and the dust returns(A) to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God(B) who gave it.(C)

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10 “But when people die, their strength is gone.
    They breathe their last, and then where are they?
11 As water evaporates from a lake
    and a river disappears in drought,
12 people are laid to rest and do not rise again.
    Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up
    nor be roused from their sleep.

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10 But a man dies and is laid low;(A)
    he breathes his last and is no more.(B)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(C)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(D)
    till the heavens are no more,(E) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.(F)

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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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23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever.

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23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.(A)

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36 This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed.

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36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep;(A) he was buried with his ancestors(B) and his body decayed.

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52 The people said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, ‘Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!’

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52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed!(A) Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death.

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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.

It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

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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)

This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.(C) The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live,(D) and afterward they join the dead.(E)

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Footnotes

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

Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.

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Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.(A)

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10 Seventy years are given to us!
    Some even live to eighty.
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble;
    soon they disappear, and we fly away.

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10 Our days may come to seventy years,(A)
    or eighty,(B) if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,(C)
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.(D)

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