Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3

Legacy 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 in my heart, “^(B)God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a ^(C)time for every ^[a]matter and for every work is there. ¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are but ^(D)beasts.” ^19 (E)For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same fate for each of them. As one dies so dies the other, and they all have the same breath. So there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is ^[b]vanity. 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)breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? ²² I have seen that ^(H)nothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion. For who will bring him to see ^(I)what will occur after him?

The Tears of the Oppressed

4 Then I looked again at all the acts of ^(J)oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had ^(K)no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. ² So ^(L)I lauded the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. ³ But ^(M)better off than both of them is the one who never has been, who has never seen the evil work that is done under the sun.