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19 For the fate of humans[a] and the fate of the beast is the same.[b] The death of the one is like the death of the other, for both are mortal.[c] Man has no advantage over the beast, for both are fleeting. 20 Both go to one place—both came from dust and both return to dust. 21 For no one knows whether the spirit of a human ascends to heaven and whether the spirit of the beast descends to the ground!

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Literally “the sons of the man”
  2. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Literally “is one”
  3. Ecclesiastes 3:19 Literally “and one breath is for all”

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