Ecclesiastes 9:3

This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

Majority Standard Bible

In The King James Version

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

In Context

2It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.

4There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 9

Cross References

Genesis 8:21When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

Job 15:16how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

Psalms 51:5Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

Proverbs 14:32The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.

Ecclesiastes 2:14The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

Ecclesiastes 8:11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

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

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