19 For the condition of the children of men, and the condition of beasts are even as one [a]condition unto them. As the one dieth, so dieth the other: for they have all one breath, and there is no excellency of man above the beast: for all is vanity.

20 All go to one place, and all was of the dust, and all shall return to the dust.

21 Who [b]knoweth whether the spirit of man ascend upward, and the spirit of the beast descend downward to the earth?

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Man is not able by his reason and judgment to put difference between man and beast, as touching those things whereunto both are subject: for the eye cannot judge any otherwise of a man being dead, than of a beast, which is dead: yet by the word of God and faith we easily know the diversity, as verse 21.
  2. Ecclesiastes 3:21 Meaning, that reason cannot comprehend that which faith believeth herein.

19 Surely the fate of human beings(A) 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.(B) 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward(C) and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or spirit