Ecclesiastes 9:4

For him who is joined to all the living there is hope; a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Bible in Basic English

In The King James Version

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

In Context

3This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.

5The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 9

Cross References

Job 27:8For what is the hope of the sinner when he is cut off, when God takes back his soul?

Lamentations 3:21This I keep in mind, and because of this I have hope.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 9:2-4

Mysteries in Providence. 1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. 2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. 3 This… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Ecclesiastes 9:4