Ecclesiastes 3:16-19 in English

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, there was the ungodly one; and the place of righteousness, there was the godly one.

¹⁷ And I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the ungodly: for there is a time there for every action and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart, concerning the speech of the sons of man, God will judge them, and that to shew that they are beasts.

¹⁹ Also to them is the event of the sons of man, and the event of the brute; one event befalls them: as is the death of the one, so also the death of the other; and there is one breath to all: and what has the man more than the brute? nothing; for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

¹⁷ I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

¹⁷ I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, there was the ungodly one; and the place of righteousness, there was the godly one.

¹⁷ And I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the ungodly: for there is a time there for every action and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart, concerning the speech of the sons of man, God will judge them, and that to show that they are breasts.

¹⁹ Also to them is the event of the sons of man, and the event of the brute; one event befalls them: as is the death of the one, so also the death of the other; and there is one breath to all: and what has the man more than the brute? nothing; for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in mine heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.

¹⁶ Furthermore, I saw that on this earth MTY, even in the courts where we expect judges to make right decisions about what people had done, they did many wicked DOU things.

¹⁷ So I said to myself SYN, “God will judge both righteous people and wicked people; there is a time for him to do that, because there is a time for him to do everything.”

¹⁸ And regarding humans, I also said to myself, “God is testing us, to show us that in one way people are no different than animals,

¹⁹ because what happens to people happens to animals. Animals die, and people die. We all must breathe to remain alive. With regard to that, people have no advantage over animals, so I have a difficult time understanding that.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgement, there was the ungodly one; and the place of righteousness, there was the godly one.

¹⁷ And I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the ungodly: for there is a time there for every action and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart, concerning the speech of the sons of man, God will judge them, and that to show that they are breasts.

¹⁹ Also to them is the event of the sons of man, and the event of the brute; one event befalls them: as is the death of the one, so also the death of the other; and there is one breath to all: and what has the man more than the brute? nothing; for all is vanity.

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.

¹⁹ For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.

¹⁹ For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.

¹⁹ For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And again, I saw under the sun, in the place of the judges, that evil was there; and in the place of righteousness, that evil was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, God will be judge of the good and of the bad; because a time for every purpose and for every work has been fixed by him.

¹⁸ I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.

¹⁹ Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart, It is thus with the children of men, that God may prove them, and that they should see that they themselves are but beasts.

¹⁹ For what befalleth the children of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other, and they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beast: for all is vanity.

¹⁶ I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity.

¹⁷ And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.

¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.

¹⁹ Therefore the death of man, and of beasts is one, and the condition of them both is equal: as man dieth, so they also die: all things breathe alike, and man hath nothing more than beast: all things are subject to vanity.

¹⁶ I 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.

¹⁷ But 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.”

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

¹⁹ For 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!

¹⁶ And moreouer I haue seene vnder the sunne the place of iudgement, where was wickednesse, and the place of iustice where was iniquitie.

¹⁷ I thought in mine heart, God wil iudge the iust and the wicked: for time is there for euery purpose and for euery worke.

¹⁸ I considered in mine heart the state of the children of men that God had purged them: yet to see to, they are in themselues as beastes.

¹⁹ For the condition of the children of men, and the condition of beasts are euen as one condition vnto them. As the one dyeth, so dyeth the other: for they haue all one breath, and there is no excellency of man aboue ye beast: for all is vanitie.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart: 'The righteous and the wicked God will judge; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.'

¹⁸ I said in my heart: 'It is because of the sons of men, that God may sift them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.'

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

¹⁷ I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I have seen under the sun, that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness; and that in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time for every pursuit; and on account of every deed there will he judge.

¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the speaking of the sons of men, that God might make it clear to them, and that they might see that they by themselves are but beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even the same thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one kind of spirit: so that the preeminence of man above the beast is nought; for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, There was the ungodly one; And the place of righteousness, There was the godly one.

¹⁷ And I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the ungodly: For there is a time there for every action And for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart, Concerning the speech of the sons of man, God will judge them, And that to show that they are beasts.

¹⁹ Also to them is the event of the sons of man, And the event of the brute; One event befalls them: As is the death of the one, so also the death of the other; And there is one breath to all: And what has the man more than the brute? Nothing; for all is vanity.

¹⁶ Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice there was iniquity; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity.

¹⁷ Then said I in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked.” For there shall be a time for every matter and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God will prove them, in order that they may see that they are like the beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts: one lot befalleth both. As the one dieth, so dieth the other. Yea, there is one spirit in them, and a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity.

¹⁶ I have seen the wickedness that is under the sun, where there should be justice, and in place of righteousness, wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked at the right time for every matter and every deed.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “God tests human beings to show them that they are like animals.”

¹⁹ For the fate of the children of mankind and the fate of animals is the same fate for them. The death of one is like the death of the other. The breath is the same for all of them. There is no advantage for mankind over the animals. For is not everything just a breath?

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.

¹⁹ For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.

¹⁹ For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.

¹⁶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the state of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

¹⁹ For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yes, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.

¹⁹ For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.

¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸ I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.

¹⁹ For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.

¹⁶ I saw under the sun unfaithfulness in the place of doom; and wickedness in the place of rightfulness.

¹⁷ And I said in mine heart, The Lord shall deem a just or rightwise man, and an unfaithful man; and the time of each thing shall be then.

¹⁸ I said in mine heart of the sons of men, that God should prove them, and show that they be like beasts.

¹⁹ Therefore one is the perishing of man and of beasts, and even condition is of ever either; as a man dieth, so and those beasts die; all those breathe in like manner, and a man hath nothing more than a beast. All things be subject to vanity,

¹⁶ I saw under the sun unfaithfulness in the place of doom; and wickedness in the place of rightfulness. (I saw under the sun unfaithfulness in place of judgement, or of justice; and wickedness in place of righteousness, or of uprightness.)

¹⁷ And I said in mine heart, The Lord shall deem a just man, and an unfaithful man; and the time of each thing shall be then. (And I said in my heart, The Lord shall judge the righteous, and the unfaithful; and then shall be the proper time for each thing.)

¹⁸ I said in mine heart of the sons (and daughters) of men, that God should prove them, and show (them) that they be like beasts.

¹⁹ Therefore one is the perishing of man and of beasts, and even condition is of ever either; as a man dieth, so and those beasts die; all those breathe in like manner, and a man hath nothing more than a beast. All things be subject to vanity, (And so the perishing of people and of beasts is one and the same, and the condition of both of them is equal, or even; for as a person dieth, so do those beasts die; they all breathe in like manner, and a person hath nothing more than a beast. Everything is empty and futile,)

¹⁶ And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment — there is the wicked; and the place of righteousness — there is the wicked.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, 'The righteous and the wicked doth God judge, for a time is to every matter and for every work there.'

¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves are beasts.

¹⁹ For an event is to the sons of man, and an event is to the beasts, even one event is to them; as the death of this, so is the death of that; and one spirit is to all, and the advantage of man above the beast is nothing, for the whole is vanity.