Ecclesiastes 3:18-21
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 I said in my heart: As for human beings, it is God’s way of testing them and of showing that they are in themselves like beasts. 19 For the lot of mortals and the lot of beasts is the same lot: The one dies as well as the other. Both have the same life breath. Human beings have no advantage over beasts, but all is vanity. 20 (A)Both go to the same place; both were made from the dust, and to the dust they both return. 21 Who knows[a] if the life breath of mortals goes upward and the life breath of beasts goes earthward?
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Ecclesiastes 3:18-21
New International Version
18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.(A) 19 Surely the fate of human beings(B) is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[a]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.(C) 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward(D) and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or spirit
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