Ecclesiastes 9:3

New Living Translation

It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

Cross References

Genesis 6:5

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.

Genesis 8:21

And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.

Job 15:16

How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness!

Job 21:26

But both are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same maggots.

Job 9:22

Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

Psalm 51:5

For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

Psalm 64:7

But God himself will shoot them with his arrows, suddenly striking them down.

Proverbs 14:32

The wicked are crushed by disaster, but the godly have a refuge when they die.

Ecclesiastes 1:17

So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 12:7

For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 2:14

For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.

Ecclesiastes 7:2

Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:25

I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness.

Ecclesiastes 8:11

When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

Ecclesiastes 9:2

The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether righteous or wicked, good or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who make promises to God are treated like people who don’t.

Ecclesiastes 9:4

There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”

Jeremiah 16:12

And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me.

Jeremiah 17:10

But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Jeremiah 17:9

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

Luke 15:17

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!

Luke 6:11

At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.

Acts 12:23

Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.

Acts 26:11

Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.

Acts 26:24

Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”

Titus 3:3

Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.

2 Peter 2:16

But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.