Ecclesiastes 3:18 - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 2021

¹⁸ I said to myself with regard to humans that God is testing them to show that they are but animals.

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

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.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

¹⁸ I said in my heart regarding the subject of the sons of men, God is trying (separating and sifting) them, that they may see that by themselves [under the sun, without God] they are but like beasts.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

Common English Bible

¹⁸ I also thought, Where human beings are concerned, God tests them to show them that they are but animals

Catholic Public Domain Version

¹⁸ I said in my heart, about the sons of men, that God would test them, and reveal them to be like wild animals.

Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version

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

Ecclesiastes 3:18 Cross References

Job 15:16

how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, one who drinks iniquity like water!

Job 40:8

Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified?

Psalm 49:12

Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that perish.

Psalm 49:14

Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; straight to the grave they descend, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their home.

Psalm 51:4

Against you, you alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.

Psalm 73:22

I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast toward you.

Romans 3:4

By no means! Although every human is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written, “So that you may be justified in your words and you will prevail when you go to trial.”

Romans 9:23

and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

Hebrews 9:27

And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment,

1 Peter 1:24

For “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

2 Peter 2:12

These people, however, are like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed. They slander what they do not understand, and as those creatures are destroyed, they also will be destroyed,