1 So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate. 2 It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow. 3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
Ecclesiastes 9:1–3
Semantically similar passages
Job 9:21–23
21 Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. 22 It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ 23 When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
Ecclesiastes 3:18–20
18 I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.” 19 For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over… 20 …
Ecclesiastes 8:13–15
13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. 14 There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked m…
Ecclesiastes 2:13–15
13 And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness: 14 The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both. 15 So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me.…
Ecclesiastes 7:14–16
14 In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him. 15 In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man peris…
Ecclesiastes 6:1–2
1 There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind: 2 God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is f…
Psalms 49:9–11
9 that he should live on forever and not see decay. 10 For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their graves are their eternal homes— their dwellings for endless generations— even though their…
Ecclesiastes 11:7–9
7 Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. 8 So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile. 9 Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let…
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