Ecclesiastes 3:18

I said in my heart, It is thus with the children of men, that God may prove them, and that they should see that they themselves are but beasts.

Darby Translation

In The King James Version

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

In Context

17I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

19For what befalleth the children of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other, and they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beast: for all is vanity.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 3

Cross References

Job 14:1Man, born of woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.

Job 40:8Wilt thou also annul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me that thou mayest be righteous?

Psalms 49:14Like sheep are they laid in Sheol: Death feedeth on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their comeliness shall be for Sheol to consume, that there be no habitation for them.

Psalms 51:4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in thy sight; that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, be clear when thou judgest.

Psalms 73:22Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was [as] a beast with thee.

Romans 3:4Far be the thought: but let God be true, and every man false; according as it is written, So that thou shouldest be justified in thy words, and shouldest overcome when thou art in judgment.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 3:17-22

Immutability of God's Counsel; The Extent of Mortality. 16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19 For that which befalleth the… Read the whole commentary →

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