Ecclesiastes 3:14-20

¹⁴I also concluded that everything God does lasts forever: nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts in this way so that people may stand in awe of him.

¹⁵Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.

¹⁶I also observed that here on earth there was evil even in the place where there was supposed to be justice; even where things were meant to be right, there was evil.

¹⁷But then I thought to myself, “Ultimately God will judge both those who do right and those who do wrong, and every deed and action, at the appointed time.”

¹⁸I also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than animals.”

¹⁹For what happens to human beings is the same as what happens to animals—in the same way one dies, the other dies too. They all have the breath of life—so regarding any advantage human beings have over animals, there is none. Definitely this is very hard to understand!

²⁰They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.