Ecclesiastes 9:1-6

English Standard Version

Death Comes to All

9 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, ^(A)how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are ^(B)in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. ^2 (C)It is the same for all, since ^(D)the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil,^[a] to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who ^(E)swears is as he who shuns an oath. ³ This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that ^(F)the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and ^(G)madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ⁴ But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵ For the living know that they will die, but ^(H)the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for ^(I)the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶ Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.