Ecclesiastes 3:21

Who knoweth, if the spirit [s] of the sons of Adam goeth upward, and if the spirit (s) of beasts goeth downward? (Yet who knoweth, if the spirits of the sons and daughters of Adam go upward to heaven, and if the spirits of the beasts go downward into the ground? I do not know.)

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

In The King James Version

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

In Context

20and all things go to one place; those be made of earth, and those turn again (al)together into earth. (and all things go to one place; they all be made of dust, or of dirt, and they shall all return to the dust, or to the dirt.)

22And I perceived that nothing is better, than that a man be glad in his work, and that this be his part; for who shall bring (to) him, that he know things that shall come after him? (And I perceived that nothing is better, than that a person be happy in his work, and that this be his portion; for who shall bring him the knowledge, so that he know what shall come after him?)

Read all of Ecclesiastes 3

Cross References

Ecclesiastes 12:7and dust turn again into his earth, whereof it was, and the spirit turn again to God, that gave it. (and the dust, or the dirt, return to the earth, where it was before, and the spirit return to God, who gave it.)

John 14:3And if I go, and make ready to you a place, (or And if I go, and prepare a place for you), again I [shall] come, and I shall take you (un)to myself, (so) that where I am, ye be.

2 Corinthians 5:1And we know, that if our earthly house of this dwelling be dissolved, that we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, everlasting in (the) heavens (or eternal in heaven).

Philippians 1:23But I am constrained of two things, I have desire to be departed [from the body], and to be with Christ, it is much more better; (For I am constrained by two things, I have a desire to be departed (from this body), and to be with the Messiah, (it is) so much better than living;)

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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