Ecclesiastes 3:19

The Message

Humans and animals come to the same end—humans die, animals die. We all breathe the same air. So there’s really no advantage in being human. None. Everything’s smoke. We all end up in the same place—we all came from dust, we all end up as dust. Nobody knows for sure that the human spirit rises to heaven or that the animal spirit sinks into the earth. So I made up my mind that there’s nothing better for us men and women than to have a good time in whatever we do—that’s our lot. Who knows if there’s anything else to life?

Cross References

Psalm 49:12

We aren’t immortal. We don’t last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.

Psalm 49:13

This is what happens to those who live for the moment, who only look out for themselves: Death herds them like sheep straight to hell; they disappear down the gullet of the grave; They waste away to nothing— nothing left but a marker in a cemetery. But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death, he reaches down and grabs me.

Psalm 49:20

We aren’t immortal. We don’t last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.

Ecclesiastes 7:2

You learn more at a funeral than at a feast— After all, that’s where we’ll end up. We might discover something from it.

Ecclesiastes 9:12

No one can predict misfortune. Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds in a trap, So men and women are caught By accidents evil and sudden.