Ecclesiastes 3:9-22

91What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? 10I have seen the 2task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to 3occupy themselves. 11He has 4made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind 5will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

12I know that there is 6nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--this is the 7gift of God. 14I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will 89fear Him. 1510That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God 11seeks what has passed by.

16Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is 12wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. 17I said 13to myself, “14God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a 15time for every matter and for every deed 16is there. 18I said 17to myself regarding the sons of mankind, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as 18animals, they to themselves.” 1919For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals 20is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. 20All go to the same place. All came from the 21dust and all return to the dust. 21Who knows that the 22spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth? 22I have seen that 23nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his 24lot. For who will bring him to see 25what will occur after him?