Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

New American Standard Bible

¹⁶ Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is ^(A)wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. ¹⁷ I said ^[a]to myself, “^(B)God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a ^(C)time for every matter and for every deed ^[b]is there. ¹⁸ I said ^[c]to myself regarding the sons of mankind, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as ^(D)animals, they to themselves.” ^19 (E)For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals ^[d]is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. ²⁰ All go to the same place. All came from the ^(F)dust and all return to the dust. ²¹ Who knows that the ^(G)spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth? ²² I have seen that ^(H)nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his ^[e]lot. For who will bring him to see ^(I)what will occur after him?