Ecclesiastes 3:18

I said in my heart: 'It is because of the sons of men, that God may sift them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.'

JPS TaNaKH 1917

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: 'The righteous and the wicked God will judge; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.'

19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 3

Cross References

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

Job 40:8Wilt thou even make void My judgment? Wilt thou condemn Me, that thou mayest be justified?

Psalms 49:14(49-15) Like sheep they are appointed for the nether-world; death shall be their shepherd; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their form shall be for the nether-world to wear away, that there be no habitation for it.

Psalms 51:4(51-6) Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight; that Thou mayest be justified when Thou speakest, and be in the right when Thou judgest.

Psalms 73:22But I was brutish, and ignorant; I was as a beast before Thee.

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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